Wednesday, April 15, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
17
Old wheels, new tech:
‘smart bus’ in plans
By Anthony rimel
Corvallis Gazette-Times
CORVALLIS (AP) —
Most people who asked
Oregon State University
students Alex Jacobson and
Ryan Kalb about the bus
in their driveway assumed
they’d bought it as a party
bus. Others asked if it was
stolen.
“We were shocked by
how many people were inter-
ested,” he said.
A Facebook posting
showing the pair parking the
Corvallis city bus in their
driveway generated more
than 300 likes.
They both are electri-
cal and computer engineer-
ing majors, and have a little
something different in mind:
they plan to convert the bus
into a mobile electronics
lab that would visit schools
to teach students about the
“Internet of Things.” That
is the idea that everything
from appliances to sprinkler
systems eventually will have
embedded computer chips
and sensors in them that are
connected to the Internet,
which will enable program-
ming and remote control.
“We wanted a topic that
involved software and hard-
ware interacting,” Kalb said.
“(The Internet of Things)
is very new, and not many
people know about it; it
seems like that’s the next step
forward.”
Roommates Kalb and
Jacobson, who live near
Jackson Avenue and 21st
Street, said their goal is to
make every element of the
bus programmable: the lights
and doors could be remotely
controlled. The bus’ exterior
electronic sign, which for-
merly displayed routes and
stops, could display messages
that were Tweeted to the bus
(once the messages have been
passed through a language
filter, that is).
Jacobson, a second-year
student at OSU who interned
in research and develop-
ment with drone maker 3D
Robotics, said his ambition is
to make the entire bus voice-
controlled via an operating
system that would be a little
like the operating system for
Iron Man’s suit in the recent
Marvel movie.
Kalb knows a little some-
thing about remote controls.
He even works remotely
— from Corvallis — for
Palo Alto-based electric car
manufacturer Tesla. He said
he’s interested in modify-
ing the bus by adding warn-
ings, such as one to alert the
driver if the bus drifts out of
its lane. Sensors also could
give the driver more informa-
tion about vehicles, objects or
people in the bus’ large blind
spots and assist the driver
with parking.
“We actually want to make
it a smart bus,” he said.
The seats will be removed
to make room for equipment
and educational displays, he
said, but some legacy parts,
such as the bus’ cash box,
will be kept — and converted
into a donation box.
Kalb said they got idea
for converting the bus in
mid-March, when they saw it
for sale on Craigslist during
finals week. They initially
thought to make it a mobile
headquarters for all their
electronics gear, but they
eventually decided to go for
the larger conversion.
After a few weeks of dis-
cussion, they bought the bus
for $3,600, with contributions
from family and friends. The
Corvallis Transit System had
sold it at auction to recycling
company Magnet for Metal
LLC, which resold it to Kalb
and Jacobson.
“It’s fun for us to do some-
thing crazy like this,” Kalb
said.
Both Jacobson and Kalb
said they have experience in
the do-it-yourself electron-
ics field; Jacobson has built
things like a “Guitar Hero”
game controller that con-
nected to a candelabra that
shot flames in the air. Kalb
also has built his own solar-
powered car.
“We do have experience in
big projects,” said Jacobson.
Jacobson said they’ve not
yet made any commitments
for what to do with the bus.
NO JOB IS
TOO BIG OR
TOO SMALL
Personal.
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Plumbing.
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photo proviDeD
Volunteers from sisters Kiwanis, high school Key Club and A home to share take a photo-op break.
Kiwanis work at A Home to Share
Once a year, Kiwanis
Clubs worldwide are asked
to devote one day, known as
Kiwanis One Day, to a single
community project. On April
11, Sisters Kiwanians and
high school Key Clubbers
spent the day doing projects
at A Home to Share.
On Saturday, 30 volun-
teers stained decks, installed
pavers, built planter boxes,
cleaned gutters, installed fix-
tures and completed many
other projects.
A Home to Share is a
co-op residence for adults
with intellectual disabilities
that opens its doors to resi-
dents this summer. A Home
to Share invites everyone to
their grand opening on May
1, 4 to 7 p.m., in their home at
506 S. Spruce St.
Sisters Kiwanis serves
our community all year
long. The club operates the
Sisters Food Bank, cooks the
Buckaroo Breakfast on Rodeo
Sunday and funds many local
organizations such as Sisters
Park & Recreation District,
Family Access Network and
the Dental Van.
Sisters Kiwanis meets
Thursdays, 7:30 a.m. at Aspen
Lakes Golf Club. Visitors are
welcome; call 541-588-6441
for more information.
“For some reason, comedians’
marriages seem to last longer.”
— Bob Newhart
Dr. ponnie Malone, DC
Sisters Chiropractic Clinic • 16190 Hwy. 126, Sisters • 541-549-7141
Serving Sisters for 33 Years