AggieScan

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  AggieScan

Inspiration

We want to connect students and make life a little easier.

What it does

Initially we wanted to make a universal app that can be customized for each college, but we focused on a more narrow topic: just A&M. The app allows the user to store their UIN and they sign in with a password. The app currently generates a URL so that the server can distinguish the user's traffic from other's traffic. The app has a QR code, which can be scanned by peers at anytime, such as a way to quickly get information from people if the user just joined a new organization. For example, once the user sets up his or her account, they have a QR code and that code can be scanned by others to access whatever information the user feels comfortable giving out. A user could chose to display their major, year of graduation, phone number, any orginizations they are in, what classes they are taking, social media username.

How we built it

We used Swift as a front end iphone development kit. We used A linux server running bind9, mysql, and php to run our backend for the application. We then used the website to build the app and to make it super fast. We used the Lareval-PhP framework to get the app up and going as quick as possible and it was still close!

Challenges we ran into

We needed an ethernet cable and a functioning router to set up a DNS, so we waited until 3 PM at the MSC, but the ethernet we were promised wasn't working, so we had to move to the Zachary to start our project.

We had compatibility issues with iphone X software and trying to flash the app onto the phone, so we just used the iphone simulator as an alternative.

We had a linux server configuration issue for 2 hours.

Trouble distinguishing URL's and determining what to do with the data.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Seeing the actual website and QR code being generated was amazing. We used one of our phones to scan the QR code to get access to the website with the user's information.

What we learned

Manage time wisely within such tight bounds, as well as developing an iOS app. No one on our team had any previous experience with Swift or making apps for phones, and we were suprised by how nice our app was.

What's next for Aggie Scan

University Scan. Even if we don't win this competition, we see how useful this app could be and plan to further develop it to be expandable for every major university. We plan to incorporate things such as tracking how often the UIN is scanned and where, so that if the user visits the Rec, library, or anytime they scan their UIN, they can track that information because it is useful data. We want to see if we can incorporate apple pay as a way to quickly scan the ID with a phone, for things such as meal trade, checking out equipment from the rec, checking out books, etc. The app can keep information such as what books the user has checked out, as well as any equipment from the Rec.

Built With

• adobe-illustrator
• custom-dns
• laravel
• mysql
• php
• router
• swift-4