Reconstruct

Reconstruct optimizes the way road repairs are performed, combining community data with cost efficiency to benefit as many people as possible.

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Inspiration

We wanted to create something that makes life a little bit easier to navigate. By combining our everyday experiences with the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, we realized that we could improve existing infrastructure systems by fostering a connection between communities and the cities they live in. We could reconstruct the way roads are managed and maintained by analyzing data about nearby buildings, traffic, and points of interest, and combine these with financial decision-making to create a more interactive, cost-effective, and community-friendly solution to road maintenance.

How it works

Users can report and rate damage to roads from our mobile app. Reconstruct then determines the name and location of the reported road, and maps out important information about the surrounding area (important businesses including their respective industries and economic sectors, user ratings, est. population, etc.). The ranking determines the order in which roads are repaired first, and which will get priority in the event that the estimated cost of repairs exceeds the budget. The reported location and ranking is also displayed on our web app, and gives and estimated repair for each damage report.

How we built it

We used Google Maps API to get the information about roads and nearby structures. We uploaded this data to Firebase, where it was easily accessible from the backend using node.js. We used React and leaflet.js to create the frontend, and Flutter to create the mobile app.

Challenges we ran into

We ran into some CORS issues, but we were able to effectively deal with them. Midway into the hackathon, we found out that we could not use Google Maps’ speed limit API as we originally planned, as it can only be used by businesses. We had to find alternatives for engaging a road’s significance.

What we learned

  • Backend development (web servers, Firebase, node.js)
  • Flutter
  • It's important to take breaks! Being well-rested helps us work better together and help each other out
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