ABSTRACT
Arduino.cc created the Arduino Nano, an 8-bit open-source microcontroller board. The board has a number of digital and analog input/output pins that can be used to connect to other circuits. A visitor counter is a device that measures visitor traffic entering and exiting institutions, recreational centers, malls, etc with the incorporation of an energy-saving lighting system in a bid to maximize energy consumption whilst providing crowd control and crowd traffic information. This thesis is based on the design of an Arduino Nano bi-directional visitor counter using Baze University as a case study. With the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to enforce social distancing guild lines the importance of the digital counter increases daily. The primary idea behind this project is to calculate and show the number of people entering any environment, such as a lecture hall, a conference room. The LCD monitor located outside the room shows the number of individuals in the room. This counter is said to be bi-directional since if a person enters the room, the counter will be increased and decreased if a person exits the room. The counter is fitted with two ultrasonic sensors each at the exit and entrance of the enclosed room that generates a 40 kHz sound wave which when obstructed reads as an individual entering or leaving the environment. In various enclosed settings, such as seminar halls, where space capacity is limited and should not be exceeded, implementations of these systems are important. The device will show the exact number of people inside the room and potential system upgrades include adding a voice warning system to signify when the room limit is exceeded and people can no longer enter inside compared to the buzzer already included. The counter is fitted with a relay system which powers the lighting system. The counters system project achieved crowd control to enable social distancing whilst implementing small-scale energy conservation.