ICL (Interactive Chemistry Lab)

brief screenshot of our project

Inspiration

Our inspiration for this project was the game infinite craft on neal.fun. Specifically, the concept of combining elements was very interesting to us. We used this to create our interactive chemistry lab, which allows users to combine various different elements and learn more about chemistry.

What it does

Our product allows users to mix several different elements. Once this is done, an AI model provides the user with a fun fact about the reaction, its type, and the group the element belongs to.

How we built it

We used Python for back end and html and CSS for front end. In the backend (which is made with python) we used a list to hold the info the experiments and used a html file to output the experiment info from the lists. Regarding the free labs, we accomplished by using a pretrained AI model called transformers to get the correct formula for the free lab. We also used an algorithm to make a formula based on what the person drags into the box and mixes. Please note that zero code was made with AI, AI was simply used to provide the fun facts and reaction types/element groups.

Challenges we ran into

The AI wasn't cooperating with us, constantly struggling to provide a response that was logical when mixing stuff. As a result, we resorted to prompt engineering in order to generate the most detailed and accurate responses. In addition, the CSS originally left a lot to be desired, so we spent countless hours tweaking it to make one we deemed professional and visually appealing.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud of how fast we managed to make this code, finishing a polished prototype by Wednesday. We also managed to learn how to incorporate AI into a functional marketable product. In addition, this was Aarav's first hackathon and we consider this to be a good foundation for improvement in future hackathons.

What we learned

We learned how to incorporate AI in a non-clunky way and how to create a visually appealing website with you.

What's next for ICL (Interactive Chemistry Lab)

In the future, we hope to add more simulations to branch to different subjects and customize experiments to the education level of the user. We also wish to add a mentor AI that teaches how chemicals work to struggling students.