Successful first construction workshop
At relatively short notice, four members of Fablab Cottbus agreed to help us test the building instructions and produce new CitRad sensors for traffic counting in Cottbus. All participants had different levels of experience, which promised us valuable feedback on the building instructions. And the expectations were fully met.
Careful reading of the instructions: In order to get to the finished sensor without any problems, the instructions had to be read in full and photos had to be examined more closely.
Many instructions from different angles
Without much preamble, the only clue we gave was our website. Everyone had to work out the rest for themselves without receiving any explanations from us. The first incompletenesses quickly became apparent, which as the author of the documentation you quickly lose sight of. However, it was much more interesting to see how well or poorly individual instructions and photos were understood by different people. This quickly resulted in helpful tips, which we were able to classify correctly with the feedback from the other participants.
Soldering as a sticking point
The connection between the radar module and the rest of the electronics caused us the most concern beforehand. There are complex steps here, from the correct bending of pins to soldering in the tightest of spaces. Surprisingly, both experienced soldering specialists and people who were a bit out of practice got on well here. As a result, we are now confident that building the CitRad sensor will not be a frustrating experience for DIY enthusiasts and workshop participants alike, but a successful one.
Ready for use on the road
After two to three hours, everyone was ready to flash the missing software onto the Teensy developer board. As this was not yet part of the instructions, we took over the flashing and equipped the CitRad sensors with the latest version of our evaluation algorithm. This means that the sensors are now ready to detect the number and speed of passing vehicles in both directions. For the sensor network in Cottbus, it also means four new CitRad modules that provide openly accessible traffic data. This not only pleases us, but also the participating new sensor sponsors.
Andres brought the most experience and in the end used the time to implement a few additional functions that were currently being tested.
Despite having soldering experience some time ago, Sarah dared to build the sensor and was able to complete the workshop with a sense of achievement without much effort.