CobraBay

A parking guidance system

With a snug two-car garage and two small children, getting parked in exactly the right spot was important. This system is the product (and ongoing project) of two years work trying to get a good solution to help myself and my wife park in just the right way.

It has also been the primary way I have taught myself python and electronics, so there is likely a lot that can be optimized, done better or redesigned here. Constructive feedback welcome!

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• Building - How to put together the hardware
• Installing - How to install the software
• Configuration - Reference to the configuration file options.

Bugs

• System
  • Improve I2C Error Handling - Some I2C faults, especially for an AW9523, can still tank the system.
  • Finish implementing threading. Maybe not needed if fault isolation is done? TBD.
  • Fix shutdown exceptions. Sensor destructor doesn't actually work correctly.
  • Report IP correctly on startup
• Logging
  • Add log file size limits and auto-rollover. Otherwise, in debug mode this can fill the filesystem!
• Network
  • MQTT messages go 'unknown' in HA - Should probably be more aggressive about retain statuses.
  • Run network loop after MQTT connect attempt to confirm actual connection.
  • Properly react to homeassistant/status online messages.
• Bay & Sensor
  • Bay doesn't acknowledge range sensor negative range.

Known Issues:

• Detector offsets sometimes don't apply. Fixed (I think)
• If MQTT broker is inaccessible during startup, an MQTT trigger will cause system to go into a loop.

Enhancements:

• Performance
  • Split sensors into separate thread/process.
• Operations
  • MQTT-based sensor
  • Range-based trigger. Start process based on range changes.
  • Additional diagnostics via MQTT. Min/max ranges seen, total faults, total non-numerical values on sensor, maybe more.
  • Restructure commands for cleaner HA interaction.
  • Trigger to abort operation, ie when garage door closes.
• Configuration
  • Ability to save current system settings to config file
  • Ability to soft-reload system with new config file.
  • Ability to set some (all?) config values via MQTT.
  • Ability to save current vehicle position as offsets.
• Display
  • Replace strober with progress bar
  • Micro-car graphic
  • Alternatives to clock, possibly divide the display.
• Multiple bay support (is this needed? IDK.)
• Documentation
  • Review install instructions
  • Review current documentation for accuracy
  • Write hardware build guide
  • Create Sphinx documention (also: Learn Sphinx)