Timely Track

Constantly late to meetings? Have friends that bring up you being late at every opportunity (like when you are trying to think about a hackathon idea)? Then Timely Track is for you!

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1. What it does

Timely Track uses a combination of Google Maps and Google Calendar to help keep you on track with your schedule. It checks traffic times and routes in real time to make sure that you make every meeting. As a mobile app, this would've also provided notifications about when you would need to leave the house to make it on time, accounting for traffic. We also have a feature that determines if the meeting could've just been an email, which was created using sentiment analysis through OpenAI.

Future features would have included preparation reminders generated using OpenAI, updating and accessing events directly in app, and a gamified scoring system. This scoring system would have given points based on if you made it to the meeting on time and would've passively encouraged you to keep with your schedule.

2. How we built it

We utilized the Google Maps, Geolocation, and Distance Matrix APIs to determine event times, locations, and routes in our Python backend. As mentioned, we also used OpenAI to analyze a meeting's purpose using the meeting's title and summary (if available). Finally we used the Flask API and framework to create the front end website.

3. Challenges we ran into

The main issues that we ran into had to do with the AI and the front end development. We originally intended to use Coze AI and its GPT-4 capabilities, however we could not get it to integrate into our code properly. After a lot of tinkering around using Discord bots and their API, webhooks, and plugins, we finally settled on simply using OpenAI's API which had native Python support.

We also had some gaps in our knowledge pertaining to front end dev, since our team consisted of two exclusively backend coders, and one front end developer who had to start late and was not familiar integrating Python as a backend. Eventually though, through lots of research we were able to use Flask to make a framework for our app in a semi stable fashion.

4. Accomplishments that we're proud of

The two things we are most proud of are figuring out a new framework and API in this timeframe with Flask, and being able to effectively integrate and utilize the Google APIs. The Flask learning was a daunting challenge, diving into the completely unknown with limited time left. Being able to finish learning and using it felt very rewarding, and showcased our adaptability. The Google APIs were also interesting to use, and fun to learn through the documentation.

5. What we learned

For us two backend developers, we learned the value of front end development, especially with Javascript as it seems to pop up everywhere. Its something that will be a vital skill to at least have familiarity in going into the future of our careers. In general though, preparation for these type of events is definitely a must, if creating a project that we are proud of is something that we are aiming for.

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