Kompas | Devpost

promotional photo
inside view
hackers (afaq was kidnapped by the giant shopping bag in the background))

Inspiration

Tired of settling with the GenAI B2B SaaS that are prevalent nowadays, we've gone back to the drawing board to revolutionize the way we get around. But mostly we just wanted to build something fun for the love of hacking - something that we can get our hands on, literally.

What it does

We built KOMPAS as a physical hardware project - a simple interface with a lot of complicated work behind it. Using a combination of magnometers and GNSS, we can point to ANY location on Earth. From the Lazeez to the LCBO, to finding your friends, and even the offices of our current (and future) internships (🙏🙏🙏).

How we built it

Out hardware is composed of breakout boards and a Raspberry Pico microcontroller. All components are soldered on a prototype board and seated in a custom-made encolsure modeled in Blender and 3D printed for optimal support, giving it a Minecraft-eqsue vibe. Software is written in Arduino C with sensor data collected and ran through some math to determine where to point the compass. Finally, an LED array provides visual feedback to the user on the direction.

Challenges we ran into

The E7 building blocks RF waves, which blocks our GPS from locking into satelites
The magnetometer has to be calibrated every time a new variable is added to the system
EMI interference in the components made their assembly hell
The enclosure failed to print 3 times, but we managed to patch it

Accomplishments that we're proud of

IT WORKS! And really well, the GPS is more precise than predicted (2m) and the calibration of the magnitometer made it as accurate as can be.
Every time we pitch the project to someone they leave with a smile, which was really the big goal of this project.
Each of us delved into something new we've never done before.

What we learned

We've learned a TON, namely:

hardware is hard
calibration is hard
trigonometry is hard
never rely on a single set of parts (we planned to make 4 compasses, but only 2.5 were feasible)

We've also been able to learn how to model, splice, and print a 3D model from zero which was an exciting process (until we had to wait a few hours for the printer to finish)

What's next for Kompas

Big Data. Artificial intelligence. Machine learning. Talk to Kompas. It'll talk to you back, search where you need to go based on context and walk you there.
Making Kompases point to each other, so that you can navigate in groups in real time.
Beef up the hardware - solar panels? keychain form factor? more pretty colors? lots of possibilities!