Inspiration
Hurricanre Irma brought destruction to millions of people. In times of need like this, we all want to help those affected but sometimes feel like we don't have enough time / resources to do so individually.
What it does
A community driven service for disaster relief - we match NGO's and private people to break the supply chain into short length paths that can be driven by private volunteer drivers.
How I built it
The service was built as an Android application using the Facebook and Google Maps API's.
Challenges I ran into
We had some trouble implementing the API because we were using Java and not a language like Python or Javascript to call it and had issues with version control and merge conflicts. To solve our problem, we wrote our own unique Json Parser, so we could better use our algorithm.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
We are proud of our algorithm that matches user-inputted driving routes with the routes that NGOs need to move supplies.
What I learned
We learned how to parse JSON files, more about how to interact with the Google Maps and Facebook APIs, and more about Android development. We learned about teamwork and the importance of sleep!
What's next for HelpTrail
Hopefully, one of HackMIT's amazing compan sponsors will help us make our dream come true, and together we can help people in disaster zones.
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