💡 Inspiration
Around 20% of vehicle collisions occur due to fatigue in Canada. Truckers are especially vulnerable with their hectic schedules. Approximately 13% of commercial vehicle accidents occur due to sleep deprivation. Additionally, truck drivers often spend days with little to no interaction with others. The dullness can be dangerous.
Not too long ago, ham radio was quite popular among truckers, as it provided a way to connect with others. Nowadays, amateur radio equipment is hard to come by and the hobby isn't as prevalent. We decided to provide an accessible alternative to help truckers fight boredom, at any time of the day. Introducing... RoadCall 🛣️
🚛 What it does
RoadCall is a proximity-based chat application designed for truckers who wish to connect with others on the road. The interface is simple and not meant to be used while driving. The drivers should instead connect before getting on the road. The screen will then turn red and search for a trucker in a 10km radius. Once someone is found, the screen turns blue and the conversation begins!
Drivers get to connect when they are driving close by and share a common experience. They may work for different companies and have different backgrounds, but they share a common journey.
⚒️How we built it
RoadCall is a web application built for mobile use. It was built using Typescript, React and Material UI.
For the back-end, we used Typescript, Express.js, Node.js and MySQL.
🛣️Challenges we ran into
The final step of the project was hosting our application. We ran into some issues with stream transmission and the audio could not transmit properly.
⭐Accomplishments that we're proud of
As only two members, we were amazed by how much work we did in such a short span of time! For an application that couldn't rely on an interface, we also loved working on a UI that could simply deliver the experience we worked on!
📝What we learned
We had both never worked with peer-to-peer connections and the challenge really kept us on our toes. We also mostly had front-end experience with React and Typescript really elevated our project.
🚀What's next for RoadCall
RoadCall started out as a peer-to-peer chat application, but we want that network to grow! We believe creating clusters of users in the same region could truly create an enriching experience.
Additionally, RoadCall could benefit from voice-activated commands, to entirely keep the driver's eyes on the road.
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