COPEVID-19 Supply Tracker

Home Page
Add an Item Status (autocompletes location and item list)
Add More Items for Store
Search for Item or Search Store Inventory
Search for Item (autocompletes location and item list)
Search store inventory (autocompletes location)
Search Item results (shows last status for item at store, sorted by last update time and also shows distance to store)
Search store results (shows last status for items added from that store)

Inspiration

The COVID-19 pandemic has lead to shortages at local stores for essential supplies due to supply chain disruption or panic buying. Family, friends, and neighbors all have had trouble finding essential items such as bottled water, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, milk, eggs, baby formula, and medicine. Many are struggling with sick family members, no child care support, or other difficult situations that make it very hard to find the time to search for day to day items that are increasingly hard to come by.

Our community started a facebook group so we can let eachother know what's available when we last went to a store, but it was difficult to use since posts would get buried and information might be outdated by the time a post got approved. Our web app is designed to help people cope (hence the name COPEVID-19) and make it easier for people to help each other find essential items.

What it does

The COPEVID-19 supply tracker helps track inventory of essential supplies from personal care to food at nearby stores. Since inventory is hardly accurate on store websites (if they have them for local stores), the application uses the power of crowd sourcing to get this information. When a neighbor goes out to get supplies, they can easily mark the status of essential items (stocked, limited, or out of stock). Other neighbors can see the status of an item at a store and when it was last updated. They can search for an item to see where it might be in stock near them or search for a store to see the status of different items they may be looking for.

How I built it

The web application is built using Python code, Flask web framework, and MongoDB for the database. It is fully responsive using Bootstrap. We are in the process of turning it into a progressive web app that can be installed on the home screen of phones and provide a more app-like experience.

Challenges I ran into

The difficulty in launching will be we need people to use the app solely for providing inventory status before it can become useful for someone searching for an item. We were looking into publicly available API's to connect with stores and check their inventory to supplement the crowd sourced information and feed data into the app, but didn't have much luck. Local stores did not have them, big chains restricted use to third party affiliates selling their product, or the API's did not meet our needs for accurately finding inventory on the shelf.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

We're proud of being able to come up with a working solution in such a short period of time and hope that it can help during this difficult time.

What I learned

Flask and MongoDB were new to me, so being able to get some hands on experience while building the app was great. I learned how to use Google Maps API for location autocomplete and biasing. I also learned about progressive web apps.

What's next for COPEVID-19 Supply Tracker

There are a lot of features we have in the pipeline - including turning it into a progressive web application, adding a maps view, and adding a "subscribe" feature where a user can subscribe to an item to get alerted when it is next confirmed in stock near them.