Spacefinder

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  Spacefinder Logo

Inspiration

The idea of a live updating map that made parking easier was already fresh in the minds of the team when they saw the J.B. Hunt Challenge. Virginia Tech parking is difficult to navigate and confusing, so the team members were excited to work toward making it easier to find an open spot close to where the driver wants to go.

What it does

The Spacefinder chatbot, when asked where the best parking spot is, will prompt you for the building you are going to, A or B (as designated on the satellite image provided by J.B. Hunt). Data is then taken from the satellite images, differentiating the empty spaces from the full spaces using an HTTP file and the distance between each space and the building is calculated using a Java file. The HTTP file then updates the data in the Firebase data file connected to the chatbot, which in turn responds with the best parking spot to the end user.

How we built it

We used Google Cloud's Dialogflow and Firebase applications to develop a chatbot that could reference a live-updating dataset. The code for the chatbot was written using Javascript, while the code for the backend was written in Java.

Challenges we ran into

Some of the initial challenges were related to learning how to use the relatively new languages and applications. Although one of us had prior experience with chatbots, none of us had worked with Google Cloud. It was also difficult to differentiate the empty parking spots from the full spots, send new data to Firebase, and reading the HTTP file results to determine distances.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are all freshmen currently, so we are proud of our ability to learn completely new skills and implement them in such a short amount of time. We are proud that we could publish data to the cloud from our Java code, created a fully-functional image processor with almost no prior knowledge, and that we were able to create a functional chatbot. As freshmen, we are also proud that we were able to put ourselves out here to demo a project and even go into a Hackathon without much coding knowledge.

What we learned

As the entire team is made of first-time Hackers, we learned how to code and research under severe time constraints, generate realistic ideas based on those time constraints, work for hours on end, and how we can improve our skills for future projects. More specific to our project, we learned how to navigate Google Cloud and how to implement connections between Java and the cloud.

What's next for Spacefinder

Spacefinder can be adapted into an app for smart devices for Virginia Tech campus and other campuses nationwide. If a constant satellite feed can be created for each parking lot, the app could filter lots by permit type and could find the most convenient parking for students, faculty, and visitors alike - tailoring the results to the building you are going to.

Built With

• google-cloud
• google-dialogflow
• google-firebase
• java
• javascript