MicroWaze | Devpost

Inspiration

For our entire undergraduate careers, we have struggled to find microwaves on UA's campus, especially once we moved off campus and started packing our lunches. No one wants to eat a cold meal for lunch every day, which leads most students to simply purchase their lunches on campus, but a select few are instead motivated to go on exploratory missions to find the microwaves we know are hidden within the many buildings of our campus. We thought it would be great if there was a way for students to share their knowledge of these microwave locations, so that regardless of what part of campus they are on, they can quickly heat up their food and enjoy a warm lunch.

What it does

MicroWaze is a web app built using Google Maps APIs. Users can either simply view the map to find the nearest microwave or mark a new location on the map if they run across an unmarked public microwave. The map shows the user their current location so they can determine which microwave is closest.

How we built it

We started by using JSFiddle to easily visualize and test our JavaScript, CSS, and HTML code for the map together. We learned how to design a webpage using HTML and created a skeleton design, but eventually ditched it when we figured out how to implement all of the functionality of the website within the map itself. The bulk of the project involved figuring out how to use javascript and Google Maps APIs to create new locations and get the pins to cooperate.

Challenges we ran into

Once we had an idea, we had no idea how to begin or what tools or languages to use because we hadn't done anything remotely similar before. By talking to the mentors, we gained direction and figured out a starting point for the project. Our biggest hurdle was the fact that no one from our team had ever used JavaScript, CSS, HTML, or Google Maps APIs, so there was a huge learning curve that came with the project.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of the breadth of what we learned in such a short time.

What we learned

We learned so much this weekend about JavaScript, CSS, and HTML. We also learned how to link these three together to create a functional webpage and about Google Maps APIs and the powerful things you can do with them.

What's next for MicroWaze

We would like to add a distance calculator that tells you which microwave is closest to your current location. We would like to work on improving our website, loading everything to a server and database, and ultimately making it on to MyBama.