GPSBUZZ

GPSBUZZ is a location based alarm that works on google Maps API, adding the power of GPS based alerts to Google maps.

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Inspiration

When I studied in India, my college was quite far from home (70 miles away). I had to wake up at 5:30 Am to catch a 6:00 am bus that would reach my college campus at 8. I would be sleep deprived at the end of it, inevitably, because i didn't know when to wake up and mostly woe up too early or too late. So I thought of designing an APP that would alert me when I was , say, 2 miles from college rather than when I was 15 minutes away from college or at 7:45 AM. (Maximizing my sleep :P). Also, I thought of how this could be useful for people new to a place and are using public transport (they will be alerted when and where to get off) and for drivers going on long drives with the car is on cruise control. They won't overshoot their location when alerted within the correct range. Overall, it seemed like a problem that could be addressed efficiently by my simple solution - A location based alarm.

What it does

GPSBUZZ provides location based alarms for all modes of transport (Driving, Transit, Walking and Bicycling). It suggests multiple routes and allows the user to choose the route and add the location where he/she wants to be alerted, the range within which they would want to be alerted and any reminders they would want to have.

How I built it

I have developed a couple of Apps on the android platform and found it to be the easiest platform to implement my idea. I have used the Google maps API as well.

Challenges I ran into

Making the response time quick (especially when in a poor connectivity area) making sure reverse geo coding (gps coordinates to addresses) maps correctly testing and establishing lower and upper bounds for the alarm range testing alarm sensitivity in real life by using it myself in day to day commutes.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

The alarm is fairly accurate. Beta testing has been positive and I am proud that what started as a small question now has an answer - an answer, which, if developed better, can be a game changer. (Also happy that now I can sleep a bit longer while travelling :P )

What I learned

I learnt many different android hacks and how crucial responsiveness and low battery consumption are important to any APP, especially one working on location tracking.

What's next for GPSBUZZ

I will be releasing it on the Google Play platform shortly, after few tweaks. I am considering making a standalone version for public transportation which will have a on-phone database of the locations and doesn't depend extensively on the use of mobile internet and can work even in regions of poor network strength. This would be suitable for countries like India, where the network coverage is quite poor and mobile internet is quite slow.

I am sharing a screen recording of the APP and a google drive location of the APK file. Please download the apk, install on any android device and see it work. for the sake of the demo, I had set the alarm close to my home in the screen recording (so that it would alert me immediately).

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