Signpost: Enabling City-Scale Sensing for Citizens and Scientists

Abstract

The world's population is flocking to city centers at an increasing rate, testing the ability of urban planners and local governments to address new problems in transportation, waste disposal, urban health, and public safety. While one could imagine solutions enabled by an emerging class of smart sensors, current attempts at such systems are difficult to deploy and single purpose in their design. If we expect researchers and citizen-scientists to participate in the data-driven rejuvenation of our urban spaces (and we should, since they are the ones experiencing the day-to-day problems), we must lower the bar to deploying sensors and accessing smart-city data. Towards this goal, we present Signpost, an infrastructurefree sensing platform that aims to enable easy, multi-use sensor deployments for citizens, and researchers who have little expertise in building smart and connected sensors.[1]