ISS Tracker

Landing page
Tracker
SMS Notification

What it does:

The ISS Tracker uses the user's current location to determine when the International Space Station is visible from their location. The user enters their phone number, and our program automatically sends them a text message when the ISS is in their vicinity.

How I built it:

I used Python to build the ISS Tracker. I used the Open Notify API to retrieve the location of the ISS, and the Twilio API to send SMS messages to users. I also implemented a scheduling system to ensure that users are only notified during daylight hours when the ISS is visible. I used flask framework after getting hands on the MLH starter to make a simple UI for the logic in python, later updated UI with css. I then hosted teh tracker as a iframe snippet embed into a Vite application with better UI with help of threejs.

Challenges I ran into:

One of the biggest challenges I faced was accurately retrieving the user's location. I had to ensure that the program worked for all users with minimal UI and that it could handle different types of errors. I also at the end ran into some bugs which I could not fix but was still able to successfully send SMS to the user. Due to some syntax error, even after getting the logic to work, I was unable to sync it with the web app and Twilio to output the necessary messages.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of:

I am proud of my ability to create a functional and user-friendly ISS Tracker in just one weekend. I was able to incorporate a variety of APIs and programming languages into the project, and was able to overcome a number of technical and logistical challenges along the way. I also learnt a lot of math, coding, and got hands on new technologies and framework. I hope to learn them in detail and make better projects in future.

What I learned:

Through this project, I learned the importance of effective communication and collaboration in a team setting. I was doing it solo, and it is indeed challenging as a beginner as I just learnt basic python and math in school but had to learn advanced math functions in order to implement the logic and browse the web every now and then to correct my syntax .I also gained valuable experience working with APIs and integrating multiple programming languages into a single project.