We all really hate walking all the way to the library just to find that it's too packed to find a seat
What it does
UC Berkeley, where student housing is relatively far away from the libraries on campus, rather than wasting our time walking to and from home, our website – Save Me a Seat, Honey (SMASH) – provides real-time data regarding how full libraries on campus are. Currently, clerks at libraries look up to check for Cal-IDs, this website has a log-in functionality for clerks to “check people in” as they enter the library, and “check people out” as they leave the library. Each library has a maximum capacity and if a library is relatively empty, the square in which the library’s name is in will be greener in color. As more people come into the library, the color will slowly switch to yellow, and then red as the number of people reaches the capacity of the library itself. This visual indicator will allow students to see which libraries are full, helping them make a more informative decision when deciding where to study.
How I built it
For technology, we are using a Heroku database to store data about the number of students who are currently in each library. To update the data itself, we are using a combination of JavaScript, and Flask with Python. For the UI, we are using JavaScript, jQuery, and HTML/CSS to create a drop-down bar and assign the check-in/check-out buttons to the library we select from the drop-down.
Challenges I ran into
We had a lot of trouble connecting to the database
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
We're proud of how the UI looks
Creating this project from scratch
What I learned
Learned about Database management
How to persist data on the web
What's next for Save Me a Seat, Honey
All college campuses have libraries, and students are more often than not always looking for a place to study. In addition to this application being used across the library system in schools and colleges, it can also be used for cafes, restaurants, grocery stores, and more. This kind of information can be used in virtually any context. It also can extend past someone manually incrementing and decrementing a count; we could incorporate motion sensors in doors, or even count faces from a camera. Rather than spending time going to a restaurant when it’s full, users can know when these establishments are not at their peak time to avoid long lines and waiting to be seated.
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