Doesn't look like a lot, right? I've been called many names in my life, some of them not blog appropriate, but one of favorites is tinkerer. A tinker in history was a travelling mender of metal utensils, and, in more modern times, is defined by a certain curiosity that borders obsessive. This collection of wires, circuit boards and electrical tape is a textbook tinker.
In early January, I was approached by a coworker who was becoming aware of my growing reputation within my company for being a tinkerer. The ask was straightforward; could I replicate a sensor this coworker was looking at that correlated GPS data and acceleration to create a heat map of sorts of potholes and speedbumps causing unnecessary vehicle wear in our area of operations. With this data, this coworker could then ensure that these obstacles in the road could be cleared.
Always appreciative of a challenge, I told this coworker, "No problem!" while knowing about 20% of what I needed up front to complete the project. In moments like these, i am always reminded of the story of Roger Bannister, the first person to break the 4:00 minute mile in 1954. Since that day, high school kids, knowing that someone has already run that time trial, have also broken this long standing record. With this vignette always in the back of my mind, my fear of failure is suppressed with the knowledge that someone has build this idea already.
This project was a great introduction to MySQL, PHPMyAdmin, and SQL/Python interfacing libraries. My favorite aspect of tinkering with hardware and software is that if I have thought of it, the law of large numbers says someone else has not only had a similar or same thought but also built, tested, and documented the journey. In the end, the minimum viable product was functional and recorded a heat map of GPS and acceleration data on a commute to work, and my core tenant to never let a lack of skill or knowledge stop me from attempting a project was reinforced.
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