Sentinel

Sentinel is a website that has compiled data from a number of academic sources on important human rights issues to visualize an interactive heatmap of the globe and resources to get involved.

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Team Leader Slack

https://swamphacks-vii.slack.com/archives/D01LQHRKAF3

Inspiration

As a team we were inspired to pursue a project that combined our interest in data analytics and web design with a meaningful project. After much consideration, we realized that something impactful that we could create would be a source for visualizing important data related to international charity work.

What it does

Sentinel uses data collected online to create a visual heatmap of the severity of issues across the globe. This allows users to see a visual representation of disparities or needs.

How we built it

We built it primarily using CSS. The map is powered by DataMaps.io, an extension of d3.js. We also used JavaScript for several necessary function calls. Additionally, we have a working database storage system along with csv parsing that allows users to upload their own similarly formatted DataMap files in order to map their own content.

Challenges we ran into

Our database query system proved a challenged while working in the DataMaps framework. It was increasingly difficult to continuously rebuild the map which lead us to scrap the parser. Instead, we used excel functions to hardcode the ~300 rows of data, with 17 unique variables across 9 pages.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Building a working website and accomplishing what we set out to do. All of us took something away from this project that we are proud of having to figure out. One of the things that we are most proud of is the map loading system which accurately displays all parsed information with indexed heatmap values.

What we learned

That it's okay to bite off more than you can chew. It's what you do afterwards that is most important. For us, we were able to refocus and take the project bit by bit to accomplish our end goal. The whole team is very proud of what we've accomplished this weekend, and I believe that it taught us many lessons that we will take with us into our professional careers.

What's next for Sentinel

Ideally, we would like to expand on our database. We had planned for it to play a much larger role initially, with the ability to create user profiles that auto-recommended links of interest and other useful sources. Hopefully we are able to implement this feature in the future.

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