RoomRadar

Sample Layout with WALC Selected

Inspiration

As college students, we know the struggle of finding the perfect study spot—one that’s quiet, available, and nearby. Whether it’s a quick 45-minute study session between classes or a long night dedicated to assignments, the right spot boosts motivation, productivity, and comfort. RoomRadar was born from our desire to streamline this search and save precious time.

What it does

RoomRadar helps students quickly locate ideal study spaces on campus. With real-time availability, walking directions, and booking options, users can efficiently choose spots that meet their needs without the hassle of searching manually. It populates an interactive map with interactive markers with corresponding sidebars (containing details, pictures, booking links, eta, and routing functionality).

How we built it

We used Google Maps API for real-time interactive functionality, a React frontend, and a local database storing an extensive array of JSON objects to store campus locations. We also implemented a custom filter (taking in walking time, public reviews, quality scores, and busyness), to rank and display these spots in a personalized manner in the initial sidebar.

Challenges we ran into

1) Race condition issues when loading maps and markers (required adding synchronization locks to prevent errors). 2) Connecting the sidebar and markers (ultimately used a global GameState variables for smooth interaction and co-operation). 3) Handling geolocation accuracy and managing distance calculations (CORS Policy restrictions kept blocking our requests, so we had to keep using roundabout methods). We plan on combating this in the future with proxy servers.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Despite our limited experience with JavaScript and working as a team for the first time, we successfully built a functioning prototype. Seeing the app take shape and imagining how useful it could be in our daily lives has been immensely fulfilling.

What we learned

This project taught us valuable lessons in API integration, optimizing React components, and efficient state management. Additionally, it underscored the importance of user-centric design when developing tools to meet real-world needs.

What's next for RoomRadar

To further improve RoomRadar, we plan to implement proxy servers to bypass CORS limitations, expand our database of campus study spots, and add user accounts for custom spots and favorite locations. Our roadmap also includes AI-based recommendations and porting the app to mobile platforms, making RoomRadar even more accessible.