Inspiration
Both of us came into Bitcamp this year solo, but after realizing similarities in our ideas we decided to team up to build an app about preparing for natural disasters and extreme weather events.
What it does
There are two separate apps that are used together. The main app at its core is a weather app, retrieving weather data from a public api. Based on the data, there may be preparation tips so that users can prepare for more intense weather events. However, there is also an emergency mode that when activated, transmits GPS and bluetooth data in case of dangerous surroundings and a need for outside help. The second app is a rescue module that uses this GPS data to find hotspots of people in need. This enables rescuers to effectively and efficiently support the most people in the shortest amount of time.
How I built it
For the weather data, we used a public API called Dark Sky. Otherwise we used base Android and Java libraries to build each of the functions.
Challenges I ran into
There were constant challenges, the most notable of which was compatibility between versions of Android. It was difficult to decide which version we wanted to use, as there is a tradeoff between the number of potential users and the software functionality. There were also numerous instances in which we were stuck coding various methods due to our unfamiliarity with some aspects of the code that we were trying to accomplish.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
I am happy that we accomplished all of our goals, successfully using the weather API, as well as utilizing various functions which take advantage of Android hardware. Every aspect of the project was difficult, so it is extremely gratifying to see it all come together.
What I learned
We became very familiar with programming in Java in Android Studio. Specifically, how to program using multiple activities, as well as how to utilize hardware like GPS and bluetooth receivers. We also gained experience with the Dark Sky weather API. It was interesting to experience first hand how multiple people can work on a project at once, and how it comes together at the end.
What's next for ResQueue
We hope to perfect the functionality that we weren't able to fully flush out. We would like to increase the efficiency of the code, as well as the readability and organization. This could definitely be useful to the public, and if not directly used, at least it could inspire others to create effective solutions to natural disasters.
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