Project Title: 

RC’s Surf Cam

Team Members:

• Sydney Richards: srichards2019@my.fit.edu
• Sean Foster: fosters2020@my.fit.edu 

Faculty Sponsor:

Dr. William Shoaff: wds@fit.edu 

Clients:

SurfX LLC: sean@surfjax.com 

ResKit Labs LLC: info@reskitlabs.com 

Meetings with client for developing plan:

• January 27th, 2022
• February 24th, 2022
• March 31st, 2022

Goal and motivation:

Create a mobile application that includes a live stream video, a rating system, and statistics for current surfing conditions at RC’s, a famous Satellite Beach surf location in Brevard County.

Most popular surf breaks around the world have a 24/7 live surf cam that surfers can view. Surfers use these cams to judge if it is worth the trip to the beach. Additionally, surfers may catch the wave of their life but they will have nothing to show for it if there is no camera. A 24/7 camera feed can capture epic moments that hold tremendous value to surfers.

Finally, sometimes data pulled from the internet may be inaccurrate or viewing the waves from shore may not fully capture the quality of surf. For this reason the application will also have a system for surfers in the community to add a 1-5 rating and comments after surfing for the most up-to-date and firsthand information.

Key Features of the System:

• Feature 1: Live Stream Video (24/7 - 365)

Live stream video from Satellite beach in Brevard County. Live stream is available for viewing on the app. The target location is: 1045 Florida A1A, Satellite Beach, FL 32937. This building overlooks “RC’s” which is one of the best surf spots on the East Coast and it does not yet have a live camera feed.

• Feature 2: Current Surfing Condition Statistics

The application will have a section that pulls surfing condition statistics from the internet including tides, swell, sunrise and sunset times, wave height, wind, and period.

• Feature 3: Rating System

The app will have a rating system for surfers to log a rating 1-5 stars and add comments. It will also include a page that displays this data for each beach and the list of comments. Each day will be broken down into three periods: 1) first light-10am  2) 10am-3pm and  3) 3pm-last light.

• Feature 5: Cross-platform support

The mobile app will be supported on iOS and Android devices, and will be tailored to also fit varying device sizes including tablets, iPhone mini, and traditional phones.

• Feature 6: Live stream video rewind

Surfers can go back to a specified time and can watch their surf sessions. Surfers can catch the wave of their life and be able to save the clip so they may have a video of it forever.

• Feature 7: Paid subscription

Once the platform has been built out, access may be restricted to paid users only. Paid subscription is necessary in making the project sustainable long term as server space needed will increase linearly with time.

Algorithms and Tools:

• Camera System

• Wall mount
• GoPro Hero
• Raspberry Pi

• Capture video with API (undecided which one)
• Use codec to compress video and prepare it to be transported over network
• Transport video over TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)
• Python or C++ will likely control the raspberry pi

• Serve the live video with Amazon Web Servers

• Keep historical video saved on AWS for video rewind
• Metadata & Data Structure to map metadata with frames

• Mobile Application

• Microsoft Visual Studio will be used as the IDE for cross-platform development
• Xamarin Forms (C# backend with XAML frontend) will be used to code the mobile application
• SQLite Net will be used as a local database
• JavaScript will be used with the Sheets Database to handle CRUD operations from the mobile application
• Github will be used for version control

• Mobile App Deployment

• The app will be deployed on the Google Play and Apple Store
• OneSignal software will be used to create and send push notifications

Novel Features:

The value brought to the users is in the camera location. The area we are targeting is a world famous surf spot that thousands of people surf every year. This project will allow surfers to make more informed decisions on whether or not the surf conditions are worth the trip to the beach. Also, surfers who wish to watch their previous surf sessions will now be able to with the rewind feature. The implementation of a cross-platform mobile app makes it easy for surfers to use on a regular basis and in a timely manner. Finally, a live rating system is a new feature that will give surfers even more up-to-date and firsthand accounts of how the waves are.

Technical Challenges:

Challenge 1: Camera Location

There are multiple potential spots for placing the camera where it will provide the best view of the waves, so the challenge will be to select the best one and receive permission for setting it up.

Challenge 2: Hardware Setup

        The camera must be setup to withstand various weather conditions including heavy rain, wind, extreme heat. It must also be in a location that is feasible to setup but not in a location that can be tampered with or stolen. Additionally, the camera must be close enough and have a high enough resolution to be accurate.

Challenge 3: Connect Video Stream to Mobile App

        The video stream will be hosted using a Raspberry Pi and AWS, which will require learning new skills. The development of the API to connect the live stream to the mobile application is also new.

Challenge 4: Automate Push Notifications

        Push notifications are simple to implement, however the challenge will be to create a way to automate the notifications when surf conditions are optimal. Additionally, giving users the option to customize their own notification preferences would be a nice feature to add with time, which would also present a technical challenge.

Challenge 5: Clean Interface

        The mobile application will only be used if the design is clean and the app is easy to navigate. All of the elements and features must fit nicely on the page, with a design that makes sense. Creating a layout that is responsive to varying device sizes will also pose a technical challenge.

Challenge 6: Store Historical Video

        Video from the livestream must be available to store and map to metadata for the rewind feature. There must be a way for users to select portions of the video of their choice and save locally, both of which are new skills.

Design:

Camera/Streaming system design

*Raspberry Pi can be interchanged with Server.

Mobile App system design

Evaluation:

• Is the live stream uptime > 99.99%
• Can the user rewind and watch any point in the live stream history?
• If the camera system loses power or internet, can it come back online without human intervention?
• Is the video stream > 480p?
• Is the video frame rate > 24 frames per second?
• Can the camera system withstand strong winds/extreme weather conditions?
• Can the mobile application pull statistics from the Internet in < 5 seconds?
• Can the mobile application pull data from the external database in < 3 seconds?

Progress Summary:

N/A

Milestone 4 (Feb 14):

• Compare and select technical tools

• App development with Xamarin Forms (C# and XAML) vs React Native
• Server hosting using Raspberry Pi or other tool

• Resolve technical challenges

• Get approval with condo for camera setup
• Determine hardware suitable for hosting live video stream
• Select weatherproof camera with correct IO
• Build basic prototype of server + camera + power supply + wiring

• Create Project Website
• Create Requirements Document
• Create Design Document
• Create Test Plan
• Setup iOS and Google Play developer accounts
• Create starter mobile application and implement git version control
• Create wireframe for mobile application layout and design
• Implement, test, & demo the form feature for surfers to submit a rating after surfing
• Create a google sheet to be used as a database for rating form submissions
• Implement, test, & demo the CRUD operations for accessing and submitting rating data and the current average rating

Milestone 5 (Mar 21):

• Implement, test, & demo API to pull updated surf condition statistics from the internet
• Implement, test, & demo GUI element for displaying current average rating
• Implement, test, & demo page for displaying current rating comments and rating
• Implement, test, & demo GUI element for displaying surfing conditions pulled from internet API
• Evaluation results
• Create poster for senior design showcase
• Mount camera and configure server on location (@ condo)

Milestone 6 (Apr 18):

• Implement, test, & demo API feature for connecting mobile app to surf cam livestream
• Implement, test, & demo feature for viewing live beach cam on mobile app
• Implement, test, & demo push notifications feature
• Perform system and integration testing on entire system
• Evaluation results
• Create user/developer manual
• Create demo video

Task Matrix for Milestone 4:

Task Descriptions:

• Task 1: All of these documents will be created first and placed on the Project Website.
• Task 2: In order to deploy applications to the Google Play and Apple Stores, a developer account must be created and setup.
• Task 3: To ensure all of the elements of the mobile app are cohesive and the app is easy to navigate, a wireframe of each page will be created. This will include navigation, design elements, and page layouts.
• Task 4: Surfing condition statistics will be pulled from an online site that needs to be determined still. An API from the mobile app will be created that connects to the site and formats the data for display on the frontend.
• Task 5: The app will include a form where surfers can select a star value 1-5 and leave a comment about the conditions. This form will connect to a Google Sheet, which will have a JavaScript function for handling CRUD operations. Comments and the average rating will be pulled from the sheet and displayed on the frontend.
• Task 8: The location for placing the camera has been selected, now we must get approval from the manager or owner of the condominium to mount the camera.

Approval from Faculty Advisor:

"I have discussed with the team and approve this project plan. I will evaluate the progress and assign a grade for each of the three milestones."

Signature: _______________________________ Date: ________