Dispose It Right

Think about the time you threw away your trash but didn't know how. We bring you, our app, Dispose It Right, a friendly app that uses image detection to give you a step by step guide on how to do so.

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Inspiration

We saw the battery disposal bin outside of BA1160, and thought to ourselves when was the last time, we threw away batteries consciously. Then it hit us, why not a disposal detection application, but thought it was over done but didn't find any apps on it. So we built it

What it does

It gives you the ability to scan items and objects and receive step by step instructions on how to disposal of these items in the most sustainable way possible. In addition to do that, by completing these steps, users can get points and be placed on the leader-board which show their ranking compared to other users.

How we built it

The app was built was built in react native to serve both Android and IOS platforms. The app interacts with a back-end server built with express and node js. The server is where all the interactions with AI models (Gemini Models) and database queries (MongoDB) take place.

Challenges we ran into

LITERALLY NOTHING WORKED. But seriously, here are some of the issues that we encountered:

  1. AI model was not working
  2. Expo didn't work
  3. Network issues
  4. Git issues
  5. LACK OF CAFFEINE
  6. Tunneling issues ## Accomplishments that we're proud of Proud that it works!!!

What we learned

How to make a simple API to Gemini, and how to interact with the camera from the mobile device with the back-end.

What's next for Dispose It Right

Technical debt that will become the next big thing. More context aware responses from AI. Train the models. Map that shows the nearest places to dispose of the item.

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