HelpMe Polymtl | Devpost

Inspiration

In case of an emergency, we want to be rescued fast. At Polytechnique Montreal, we can't wait for the emergency services to figure out the maze that is our school. We want faster responses times, and that's why we built HelpMe Polymtl.

What it does

As a Polytechnique student, download the HelpMe Polymtl app. In case of an emergency of any kind, be it harassment from another student, a medical issue or a fire, open the app and press the Help me! button. The security agents will see your help request and you'll get a confirmation that someone is on its way.

The security agents receive an alarm on Security Center when there is an emergency. In case they are all on patrol, they also see the emergency on their phones. On both, they can see the Polytechnique map and the location of the emergency. They can then confirm that they are on the case.

How we built it

We built 2 android apps, one for the students and one for the security agents. We store our data on Amazon DynamoDB using node.js. Finally, we used the Genetec SDK to build the map that is displayed in Security Center.

Challenges we ran into

-Building Android apps without prior experience

-Using AWS without prior experience

-Not sleeping

-Poor precision of geolocation

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Somehow it works?

What we learned

24 hours is short.

What's next for HelpMe Polymtl

HelpMe would be even more useful on the scale of cities. When reporting an emergency, the police officers could have access to nearby cameras. That way, they can assess the situation before arriving at the emergency location.