Inspiration
In times of COVID, more often than not we are trying to avoid seeing people we don't need to. However, sometimes it's impossible to avoid seeing other people. What if you just need a pack of pencils for a project, or a late night sandwich. Uber Eats or delivery is always an option, but its expensive! We wanted to create a delivery system that reaches a comfortable middle ground between these two extremes. HeyPigeon is convenient, good for the environment (less delivery cars), and a must have for anybody craving anything while stuck working from home!
What it does
HeyPigeon connects you with the Pick Up Station closest to you based on your current location and the availability of drones. Once you have placed an order through the drone, you will be given a time estimate for when your delivery will arrive. Upon arrival, the user will be able to simply pick up their order from their nearby Pick Up Station without having to interact with anyone, at a fraction of the cost of a typical delivery.
How we built it
We used Arduino circuits with GPS connectivity to enable communication between our central server and the drones themselves. On the client side of things, we developed an iOS application using xCode to provide a fully interactive map featuring the locations of all Stations. Placing orders through the app is also possible, as well as an estimate on arrival. Server side, we implemented various Java classes to represent the Stations, drones, GPS coordinates, and even a map to keep track of all stations in Montreal. Furthermore, we created an algorithm to pair the user with the closest available pick up station.
Challenges we ran into
The learning curve on xCode proved to be steep, a problem which was dealt with by grinding Youtube tutorials. Implementation of the Java classes was also a challenge, from importing the Unfolding map-creating library to developing a cohesive design architecture. In terms of hardware, our team faced difficulties implementing GPS and LTE in Arduino, as well as massive time differences since one of our team members is in a completely different time zone.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We are exceptionally proud of the aesthetic beauty of our iOS app, as well as the relative simplicity of our Java implementation. The technical difficulty of developing a location-enabled drone makes the task a great accomplishment, so we are also proud of that. Lastly, we are pleased with the idea as a whole, and think this is something tons of people can hopefully get excited about!
What we learned
We learned a lot about working in a team, more specifically remaining in constant communication throughout the process of brainstorming and development. We talked through any confusions between team members, and ensured that everyone was always on the same page.
What's next for HeyPigeon
Polishing our application, perfecting the server side of things, ensuring hardware is up to specification, and developing a killer marketing campaign :)
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