Photo: Jeromey Russ/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Missing a train can be troublesome, but a computer science graduate created a device that can solve that problem.
Matt Ognibene graduated from Northeastern University and has always hated waiting. He had some older methods, but they didn’t work too well.
“The red line goes directly under my apartment, and I can feel it when it comes by,” said Ognibene. “That used to be how I was timing my departures, but that doesn’t really work very well.”
Using his degree and a bit of hard work, Ognibene was able to create a simple device that would tell him exactly when to leave for his train, so he won’t have to wait. He wrote a program using measured walking speeds from his apartment to the station he uses.
“The MBTA publishes real-time schedules for the trains. I just pulled down that data, plug in how long it takes to get from my apartment to Charles/MGH, which is my station, and it just tells me when to leave,” said Ognibene.
Ognibene even posted a video on YouTube breaking down how the device works, netting over 200,000 views and countless supportive comments.
The device is made with a small computer called a ‘Raspberry Pi,’ and Ognibene said the building process is so simple that a high schooler could put it together.
“It’s just a simple Raspberry Pi,” said Ognibene. “With a simple LCD screen. You can find these parts at your local computer store or just online, and it’s really simple to build.”
The device comes with three modes, ‘Go Now,’ ‘Wait,’ and ‘Last Chance,’ each one signaling when to leave or wait for an incoming train. Ognibene even added a feature to account for switching between trains.
Although it could be helpful for many, Ognibene doesn’t want to produce and profit from the devices because he thinks it would take away from people tinkering in their own lives.
“I wanted to have some sort of way to always know when to leave my apartment, to get to the train exactly when it’s arriving,” said Ognibene. “My life has been substantially improved.
WBZ NewsRadio's Jeromey Russ (@JeromeyRuss) reports.