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Main Interface
Inspiration The idea for our project didn't come from a textbook; it came from looking out the window in Oviedo, Florida. As residents of Central Florida, we saw firsthand the community's beautiful green lawns, but also the constant watering schedules and the growing concerns about water restrictions. We realized this wasn't just about high water bills, it was about the health of the Floridan Aquifer, the massive underground reservoir that supplies drinking water to millions. The single biggest strain on this vital resource is residential irrigation and overwatering. We saw a disconnect where people want beautiful lawns, but the common methods are often unsustainable and harmful to our shared water supply. This inspired our core question: How can we make water conservation intuitive, engaging, and even fun? We decided to tackle this by creating a tool that helps increase sustainability.
What it does Every Last Drop is a gamified educational simulator designed to teach sustainable lawn care. The application presents users with a side-by-side interface:
- The Lawn Simulator: On the left, users manage a virtual lawn. They choose the type of grass, decide when to water and mow, and watch how their lawn responds to randomly generated weather over time. Crucially, the simulator provides real-time visual feedback not only on the health and root depth of the grass but also on the level of the underlying aquifer, directly connecting their actions to the invisible environmental impact.
- The AI Conservation Coach: On the right, a fully functional AI chatbot provides expert advice. Users can ask questions about their virtual lawn or general questions about sustainable lawn care. The AI, fine-tuned specifically for this topic, provides genuinely helpful, actionable responses, bridging the gap between the game and real-world practices.
How we built it Our project is a single, cohesive desktop application built entirely in Python, with the graphical interface and all visualizations powered by the Pygame library. • The Lawn Simulator (WaterWisePane): This is the core of the experience. We created a robust state-management system using Python's data classes to track every variable, from lawn health and root depth to the aquifer level. The simulation progresses in monthly turns, governed by an engine function, apply_next_month, which calculates the impact of weather and user choices on all game stats. All visual elements, the changing color of the grass, animated rain, and the dynamic root visualization are rendered in real-time using Pygame's drawing capabilities. • The AI Chatbot (ChatUI): To provide educational value, we built a custom chat interface within the Pygame window. The user-facing UI is built from scratch, but the intelligence is powered by a function chat_with_slm (imported from an external file). This function acts as a bridge to a small language model (SLM) that has been fine-tuned to provide expert, conservation-focused advice on Florida lawn care, making it a truly integrated educational coach.
Challenges we ran into • Integration: Combining our backends for different commands was a massive challenge • Building a UI from Scratch: Pygame lacks the built-in components of modern UI toolkits. We had to build complex elements like the chat interface, text input boxes, and interactive buttons. • Integrating an AI Model: Linking a Pygame application to an external AI model presented a technical hurdle. We had to ensure that API calls were handled efficiently and didn’t take too long. Accomplishments that we're proud of
What's next for Every Last Drop We have some ideas to add in • Regional Profiles: Introduce different climate zones, soil types, and native grasses for other regions, making the simulator relevant to a national audience. • Real-World Data Integration: Connect the simulator to a weather API to use real-time, localized weather data instead of randomly generated conditions. • Expanded Scenarios: Add new challenges and scenarios, such as specific drought conditions, local water restrictions, or the effects of fertilizer and pesticides. • Community Partnerships: Collaborate with local municipalities, schools, or water conservation districts to use the tool in educational outreach programs.
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