ORBIT

##ORBIT It all began when my friends and I went on a trip to Sedona earlier this month. The experience was incredible, and we had an absolute blast! But the excitement faded as soon as we got home and realized how much the trip had impacted our budget. The only thing that really stood out as a highlight was the Dodge Charger we rented. We all discussed it and searched for solutions, but there wasn’t a single travel planner that could help us organize a trip while staying within a budget.

As time went on it was time to plan for winter break, we started thinking about our dream trip to Los Angeles—a place we’ve wanted to visit for a long time. But again, the issue of budgeting kept holding us back. That’s when we had an idea: why not create our own AI bot that helps plan trips, complete with a personalized itinerary that fits within our budget?

We built Orbit, an AI-powered travel planning tool, with the goal of simplifying trip planning by taking in key details such as your destination, current location, the number of travel days, mode of transport, and budget. Based on these inputs, it generates a fully planned itinerary. The platform also includes Google authentication, enabling users to log in and out seamlessly, which we implemented using Next.js along with libraries like MagicUI and Clerk. For the backend, we used Python, integrating Gemini’s API and FlightLabs API to provide real-time flight data and other essential travel information. FastAPI connects the frontend with the backend, ensuring smooth data flow. One of the biggest challenges we faced was extracting and properly utilizing data from FlightLabs API, but we successfully designed and implemented all the planned outputs, including real-time data updates, which sets Orbit apart from other bots that can't provide such information.

We’re particularly proud of the complete itinerary planner and the real-time data feature, which significantly enhances the user experience. Through the process, we learned how to efficiently integrate APIs and manage authentication for user-friendly navigation. Moving forward, we plan to expand Orbit by adding databases for hotels, buses, trains, and car rentals to offer an even more comprehensive travel planning experience.

We’re particularly proud of the complete itinerary planner and the real-time data feature, which significantly enhances the user experience. Through the process, we learned how to incorporate several APIs together, which helped us tremendously and gave us the confidence to tackle future developments for Orbit and other projects. Moving forward, we plan to expand Orbit by adding databases for hotels, buses, trains, and car rentals to offer an even more comprehensive travel planning experience.