GoU | Devpost

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Inspiration

One of the things a lot of us face during the beginning of a new semester is planning your routes and familiarizing yourself with more of your campus to get to classes. Our app deals with that with an interactive map that gives navigation instructions to the user to go to their destination building. Bus riders also often face the problem of finding the nearest bus stop in the beginning in cases where they get classes in a different part of the campus. Our app would also aid them by showing live bus locations, nearest bus stops, and how to get there. PassioGo and Transit - two bus apps used most by the university students - were our inspiration for this feature.

What It Does

Our application is a version of the USF Bull Runner system that we redesigned and focused on improving accuracy, navigation, and overall user-friendliness. It allows users to view real-time bus locations, search for a campus building, and decide the most efficient routes to arrive at their destination. The application helps users make faster decisions by showing a precise approach to buses, reducing uncertainty and waiting times when moving across campus with the live locations.

How We Built It

For producing this application, we used Google Antigravity and Gemini. We used python for the backend. Using various libraries and their applications, we were able to add the features we needed. It also allowed us to design the UI as needed. We also incorporated various mapping APIs from Google Maps for locating, tracking, and navigating.

Challenges We Ran Into

The first challenge we faced was working with an AI tool to help develop the application. We attempted to use the AI, which introduced instability issues, including crashes and incomplete rendering, during application development.
Another challenge was the limitation of AI. While these tools helped us brainstorm and generate the project, we ran into usage limits that interrupted the development process.

Accomplishments That We Are Proud Of

Learning New Things - We all faced challenges in developing the code and working with new technologies and available resources as some of them were entirely new to us. Learning and applying them to build something functional was one of our greatest accomplishments through which we achieved as we learned.
Successful Execution - After running into various bugs overlooked during coding, we finally were able to get the code to work. From making the map work as intended to showing live updates, we were finally able to land the perfect execution with no errors.

What We Learned

We learned the importance of understanding real user needs. Because we often use the original Bull Runner app, we notice recurring issues with inaccuracies, navigation, and overall experience. This made it necessary to redesign the system to provide a more reliable and user-friendly solution.
We also learned how to use real-time data and the challenges that came with it by integrating a live system into an application. Using the PassioGo API helped us model and comprehend how the data behaves, and how essential it is to handle accuracy properly.
Additionally, we learned that before execution, we need to have a solid breakdown of complex ideas into smaller ones. Building features, route identification, and designing how data is structured.
Another takeaway was collaboration as a team, dividing responsibilities between frontend design, satellite integration, and application logic. This helped us stay organized and communicate to create a developed environment.
We also learned to adapt to different scenarios with AI tools. While AI helped us start quickly, we faced limitations such as crashes and access restrictions. Illustrating the importance of comprehending the code and being able to develop and debug using standard tools.

What's Next For Untitled

Personal Accounts - One of the first features we will add is personal accounts. This would allow better experience for the user. It would also allow them to personalize their experience.
Expansion - Currently, our focus is only on the USF campus. But we plan to make our program to be easily applicable to other universities as well. This would help students across a wide area and make it more specific for their own campus.
Themes - Who doesn't like applying themes to certain areas? Whether it is changing to dark mode, adding cherry blossom petals or making it completely neon. We plan to add some standard themes to make the app experience more personal.