ScurvyScout | Devpost

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Inspiration

Embracing the pirate theme, I aimed to tackle a notorious health issue among pirates—scurvy—blending my former passion for healthcare with my new pursuit in computer science. This project was born from the desire to merge these interests into a simple health application within a 24-hour hackathon framework.

What it does

ScurvyScout empowers users to enter any food item, from the simplest to the most complex, and calculates the Vitamin C content. This open submission approach mirrors the improvisational spirit of pirates, who lacked access to extensive databases or technical knowledge. Simply input a food item, and ScurvyScout tracks your Vitamin C intake effortlessly.

How we built it

As a first-year computer science major eager to deepen my Java skills, I chose this language for its simplicity, envisioning a pirate-friendly application. ScurvyScout utilizes Java Swing, diverse data structures, and the ChatGPT API to process ambiguous food items, ensuring functionality even in remote, internet-scarce environments as it is a desktop application.

Challenges we ran into

The main hurdle was ensuring the program was user-specific and retained data accurately. Initially, the system struggled with linking user IDs to their data, posing a significant challenge in maintaining user-specific logs.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Successfully integrating APIs and developing a full-stack project solo are my proudest achievements, especially as this was my first hackathon. Overcoming unfamiliarity with certain tools to create a complete, functioning application marks a significant personal milestone.

What we learned

I learned how to make a full-stack program by myself in the programming language Java. I learned how to make GUIs for programs and learned how to code a program within an allotted time frame. Also, I learned how to use APIs to enhance the functionality of a program.

What's next for ScurvyScout

Looking ahead, leveraging the logged data for data science applications or expanding functionalities to include other nutritional metrics, like calorie tracking, could significantly enhance ScurvyScout's utility and impact.