~~Galaxy MilkyWay~~

• 

  it's a galaxy milky way

Inspiration

In the space industry, there is no standardized tracking system between organizations to keep track of equipment being sent into space (and possibly becoming debris). In order to make space travel safer and help scientists keep track of their equipment, we decided to build a database using Google FireStore.

What it does

This simple command line interface allows users to scan in equipment via AprilTag (a simplified version of a QR code) and uploads the equipment information into Google FireStore. In addition, the tool uses computer vision to track and update the location of these tags through image processing.

How we built it

We used openCV and the apriltag python module to process images taken by a camera. After all AprilTags are identified, their location is logged into Google's FireStore database through Google API

Challenges we ran into

Poor documentation for the python bindings and our lack of experience in computer vision made image processing difficult.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

All of us managed to step out of our comfort zones by learning completely new aspects of programming. Half of our team never attended a hackathon before and was not familiar with Python. However, we all managed to finish the project on time with a satisfactory product.

What we learned

We learned a lot about databases -- the different kinds of databases, basic terminology, and how to create a basic database using Google API.

What's next for Galaxy MilkyWay

We have started to add support for realtime image processing that can track AprilTags through a video stream. In the future we would like the database to store more information than just simply tracking location. In addition, data stored in FireStore could be used the predict the trajectory of equipment in space in order to prevent possible collisions in space. Galaxy MilkyWay has a lot of potential for not only becoming the standard database for equipment tracking, but also making space travel safer through prediction.

Built With

• apriltag
• google-cloud
• opencv
• python