Gotta Go!

Inspiration

When you gotta go, you gotta go. Not every place has easily accessible bathrooms. There are times when we really needed to use the toilet, but there was no place to go. When you really need to use the bathroom, nothing is ever fun. Our idea solves these issues with the push of a button.

What it does

Our hack drops off portable potties which can be called from using an app. It comes from a truck and drops it off in a convenient location for both the person and the vehicle holding the toilets. .

How we built it

Using Python and GoogleMaps API, we built an algorithm that would find a good place to drop our portapotty. The original proof of concept prototype was built in Ardiuno, but was eventually realized in SolidWorks.

Challenges we ran into

None of us had used GoogleMaps API. Learning it was daunting, but we took the challenge. When we were building our proof of concept model with arduino, we realized we had no way of showing our design with it. We then had to transition to SolidWorks. That means that we would not be able to have a physical model for our demo.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Joshua: "I learned how to use the command terminal, GoogleMaps API, and Python."

Leslie: "I was never really good at Python. However, we decided to use it for this hack. I think I really improved and I am proud of the code that we developed."

Marcus: "I an a Mechanical Engineer and I didn't know how I would fit into the team. But I think I really contributed and learned a lot. I learned about new components for robots and learned how CS majors work with engineering majors."

What we learned

Joshua: Command Terminal, GoogleMaps API, and Python

Leslie: GoogleMaps API and Python

Marcus: Familarity with Arduino and SolidWorks

What's next for Gotta Go!

In the future, we plan on creating more of the SolidWorks components. We want to implement the crane in order to remove the portable potties from the docking station. That would be a good next step.

As for coding, we want to finalize our algorithm in finding the right place to stop and unload the toilets.