RUHealthy

prototype: example of our website working with all features.

Inspiration

As students eating regularly at dining halls, we found it challenging to track our daily caloric intake and macronutrients. This gap inspired us to create RUHealthy, a tool for monitoring nutrition conveniently.

What it does

RUHealthy is a website that helps Rutgers students easily track their daily caloric intake and macronutrients. Users can select their campus, day, meal, and food item from dropdowns, with each item displaying serving size and detailed nutritional values. The app also features a calorie ring tracker to visualize progress toward daily goals.

How we built it

Design: We started with wireframes in Figma to outline a user-friendly interface.
Frontend: Developed with HTML/CSS/JavaScript to provide an intuitive interface, featuring dropdowns for campus, day, meal, and food items.
Backend: Built using Flask, with Selenium for automated data collection from dining menus and SQLite3 for efficient data storage and retrieval.

Challenges we ran into

Data Collection: Using Selenium to automate updates and ensure accurate, up-to-date dining hall nutrition data.
User Interface: Crafting a simple, clean UI to display necessary nutritional information effectively.
Data Integration: Integrating frontend and backend components smoothly, so users could access real-time data tracking.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Successfully implementing a calorie ring tracker to visualize users' daily intake.
Designing a dropdown system for easy navigation.
Building a reliable nutritional tracking platform tailored to Rutgers students.

What we learned

Through this project, we gained skills in data integration, UI/UX design, web scraping with Selenium, and database management with SQLite to enhance user experience and data accuracy.

What's next for RUHealthy

Data Expansion: We plan to add more dining options, including retail locations, and ensure weekly updates from the dining hall.
User Customization: Introducing features for personal nutritional goal-setting and progress tracking.
Mobile Compatibility: Developing a mobile version for convenient, on-the-go tracking.
AI Integration: Building AI-generated meal plans tailored to each student’s caloric intake, allergies, dietary restrictions, and nutritional goals, providing personalized and convenient meal suggestions.