Inspiration
When deciding what sort of problem to solve, we wanted to tackle something relevant to our daily lives. As off campus students, something which is arguably one of the most time-consuming aspects of getting to campus is finding quick, convenient, and most of all, free parking. As unpaid options dwindle and remain ephemeral, it seemed altogether necessary that a tool be designed to help us navigate to our destinations as quickly as possible.
What it does
Takes in a user input destination, compares user coordinates to the closest available free service, prints the service to the user, displays distance between user and closest point.
How we built it
Coded using Python, data plots mapped using QGIS. Data was exported in a .shp file and imported into python.
Challenges we ran into
Firstly, being first-time hackers! But more importantly, having to work out the problems of using two different services and taking in data and polymorphing it into a digestible and displayable data set.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Having a scalable project that provides a public good to all users, being open source means users can take what we have and further improve it and use it in a way that can benefit them personally.
What we learned
A bit more of the power of python! We were able to dip our toes into GIS and see the how much of a service it provides for a data science student.
What's next for FreeLoading...
Including maps for public utilities (Public restrooms, public access to water, public transportation), functional website accessible on both mobile devices and desktop browsers. Public website will be available soon at our website!
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