Inspiration
What it does
Our smart parking application is designed to simplify the process of finding parking in busy city areas by giving users real-time, organized information before they even arrive at their destination. Instead of driving around searching for open spots, users can enter their destination into the app and instantly view nearby parking garages along with important details such as pricing, distance, and availability. This allows users to compare options and choose the most convenient and cost-effective garage ahead of time.
The app also includes secure user authentication through Auth0, ensuring that each user can safely log in and manage their personal and vehicle information. Supabase is used to manage and store backend data, allowing us to link user accounts with saved vehicle details and preferences. By integrating location-based APIs, the system can accurately identify garages, provide address information, and calculate distances from the user’s destination. Overall, the application helps reduce time spent searching for parking, lowers stress for drivers, and contributes to a more efficient and smarter urban transportation experience.
How we built it
We built our smart parking application by combining a modern frontend interface with secure authentication and a cloud-based backend system. On the frontend, we designed a user-friendly interface that allows users to enter their destination, view nearby parking garages, and compare important details like price and distance. A major part of our development process involved connecting the frontend to external APIs that provide location data, enabling us to display accurate garage information and calculate distances in real time.
For authentication, we integrated Auth0 to handle secure user login and account management. This allowed us to implement a reliable authentication flow without building our own system from scratch. On the backend, we used Supabase as our database solution to store user information, vehicle details, and other relevant data. One of the biggest challenges was learning how to properly connect authentication, database queries, and frontend components so that data could be securely stored and retrieved for each user. Through testing, debugging, and collaboration, we were able to successfully integrate all components into a fully functional application.
Challenges we ran into
One of the biggest challenges we ran into was understanding how authentication, backend data, and the frontend all connect and communicate with each other. Since Auth0 and Supabase were both new technologies for us, there was a steep learning curve in figuring out how authentication tokens work and how to securely pass user information between the frontend and backend. We had to troubleshoot issues where users were successfully logging in, but their data was not properly linking to the database, which required careful debugging of our API calls and database queries. Another challenge was integrating the location-based APIs and making sure the data we received was accurate and properly formatted for our UI.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
One of the accomplishments we are most proud of is successfully integrating multiple technologies into one fully functional application. Bringing together authentication with Auth0, backend data management with Supabase, and location-based APIs into a seamless user experience was a major milestone for our team. Since many of these tools were new to us, simply getting everything to communicate correctly and securely felt like a huge achievement.
We are also proud of building a clean, user-friendly interface that makes it easy to search for parking garages, compare pricing, and check availability. Seeing the UI work smoothly after overcoming authentication and database challenges was especially rewarding.
What we learned
Throughout this project, we learned a great deal about full-stack development and how different parts of an application work together. One of the biggest lessons was understanding how authentication systems function and how secure login flows connect to backend databases and frontend components. Working with Auth0 helped us learn about tokens, protected routes, and user session management, while using Supabase taught us how to structure databases, write queries, and securely store and retrieve user data.
We also learned the importance of handling APIs properly, especially when dealing with asynchronous requests and real-time data. Debugging issues showed us how critical it is to carefully read documentation.
What's next for SmartPark
Looking ahead, we are excited to continue improving our smart parking application by adding features that make it even more helpful and practical for everyday use. One of our next planned features is a built-in parking timer that allows users to track how long they have been parked. This would help users avoid overstaying their time limit and potentially receiving parking tickets. Along with the timer, we want to implement an automated reminder system that sends an email notification 15 minutes before their parking time expires, giving users enough notice to return to their vehicle or extend their time if possible.
Another future enhancement we are excited about is adding a location-based feature that helps users find their car in large parking garages or lots. By saving the parked location within the app, users could easily navigate back to their vehicle without confusion.
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