Inspiration
FreeFlow was created during a hackathon at Stanford's dSchool. The basic criteria for the hackathon was that the final project must have the ability to impact the community positively. Realizing the shortage of parking spaces in Palo Alto neighborhoods, creating an app that allows users to find parking spaces in the area efficiently would help not only reduce the number of vehicles on the road, but also improve the traffic flow.
What it does
FreeFlow is an app that allows users to find parking spots efficiently. It relies on users to crowd source data on which spots are open in certain areas. To deter any fake claims, each user is assigned a credibility score so that if what they say is not trustworthy, they will have restrictions placed on their account. By allowing users to find available parking spots efficiently, it would help ease the traffic on the road.
How I built it
We utilized the Google Maps API for GPS tracking and obtaining directions to available parking spots. In addition, we used spothero.com to check whether parking spots that users claim to be open are actually open, reducing the amount of fake claims being made. We prototyped the machine that relays information to and from the apps by using cardboard boxes and construction paper, in which each part of the machine was labeled with its name and functionality. The prototype was displayed inside Stanford's dSchool from April 2016 - May 2016.
Challenges I ran into
The hardest part about the project was finding a way to crowd source data from multiple devices and store them in a server. In addition, linking the Google Maps API and spothero.com was quite challenging as well.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
I was quite proud of our app because it had an amazing user interface and could communicate with other devices to crowd source data.
What I learned
From this experience, I learned a lot more about teamwork and different ways apps can collect data from users.
What's next for FreeFlow
In the future, I plan on finishing the app and hopefully have it available to download on the AppStore.
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