In September of 2022, the team connected with Mechanic to You after reviewing their post on seeking a team to build a mobile application for their business. Since 2009, Mechanic to You provided auto repair services to Ottawan at the customer’s home parking, on the curbside or from Mechanic to You’s garage. The use of smart phone devices has become the norm in everyday life and in that it lies the opportunity to automate the process in receiving requests for services and providing jobs to subscribed auto mechanics.
The team built the base of the Android mobile application around a framework that is consistent with the client’s business requirements. The MtY app consists of two parts, the mobile application and a back-end application holding business information that drives the activities around completing a service request. The MtY app is a user friendly application that emphasizes on an appealing design that blends smoothly with components that dynamically respond to the user’s requirements. As with any business that wishes to expand digitally, a database system and a system to exchange information is required which the team built. The back-end application is the key to promoting the solution that Mechanic to You offer by delivering and updating business information through a representational state transfer(REST) application.
The journey in developing the MtY app has been rich with real world experience that allowed experimentation in a heuristic approach to practice under an educational environment. The team acquired both hard skills and soft skills through corresponding with the client, keeping up with group meetings, forming a mode to expressing ideas and establishing the criteria to reaching a consensus. On hard skills, the team learned to use new tools and framework, such as, extensible application markup language(XAML), Xamarin cross-platform integrated development environment(IDE) and many application programming interface (API) available on NuGet package manager.
Lastly, the team would like to express our thanks to the client and Algonquin College for facilitating the grounds for our learning process. It’s our honour to have participated through-out the phases of the project from the planning stage to proudly presenting our successes on the MtY app.
Reaction All Years
This project began with Indro Robotics, a R&D company who specializes in the development of unmanned vehicles. They reached out to us to come up with a proof of concept of a lightweight RFID reader for drones. This would be used to augment the performance of their existing camera-based inventory management system. Problems such as improper lighting and damaged labels causes the vision-based system to generate inaccurate readings. New technology such as RFID does not rely on line-of-sight, but instead uses radio waves to identify objects.
We were challenged to design and build a lightweight RFID scanner that would meet the following criteria:
– Have a read range over 0.7 m.
– Have a maximum dimension of 20x20x20 cm with payload.
– Weigh no more than 1kg.
– Be built within a budget of $1000.00.
– Store data in the Jetson Nano.
– Reads tags in all orientations.
The solution consisted of designing and building a lightweight RFID scanner for drones that would be able to scan multiple tags and store its data on the onboard Jetson Nano. This was accomplished with the Spark Fun Simultaneous RFID Scanner and supporting hardware. This development board is designed to work with an Arduino, but with extensive firmware development the reader was able to transmit, receive and decode radio waves sent from the RFID tags. Then sends the data directly to the Jetson Nano via serial communication.
This project was a valuable learning opportunity to gain skills we never had. The project involved 3D modeling, 3D printing, custom circuit schematics, bill of materials, C-programming, microcontroller interfacing. Fortunately, we accomplished all our project criteria, and it was returned to our client where they will develop the idea further.
The project began when the Public Health Agency of Canada approached our program with a problem: how to communicate time sensitive measures to different communities and user groups. The Covid-19 outbreak brought attention to this issue and highlighted the significance of precautionary measures. Our aim was to explore timely means of communications to different communities and user groups, and how to build trust for adoption of life saving practices.
Through our secondary research we learned for individuals to adopt prompt health measures, they need to be made aware of what they are at risk of and how to best practice recommendations to protect themselves. The first step was to understand an individual’s baseline knowledge of communicable and non-communicable diseases and assess trusted channels health information. We decided to narrow our focus to the rise of type-2 diabetes in Canada, focusing on general awareness and baseline prevention knowledge.
We compiled questions about access to healthcare advice, channels of information and attitudes towards health behaviour. We adopted a mixed-methods approach that involved a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews. The survey was designed to gather health behaviour data, status of communication with healthcare providers and desired outcomes of healthcare experiences. The interviews aimed to gather qualitative insights on patients’ experiences and perspectives; what influences their trust with doctors, health advice considered and their healthy lifestyle practices. We had 67 validated survey respondents, 7 semi-structured interview participants and consulted 5 subject matter experts.
We uncovered a significant communication gap within the instances of adults without family doctors, which places an onus on individuals to explore health related information through their familiar channels. In our survey; Google, family and friends were just as common for clarifying new medical terminology as asking healthcare professionals. We found participants wanted a family doctor to experience consistency and build trust for continuous care. The healthcare provider-patient relationship also influences the social support network on best practices for informal caregivers, having a ripple effect affecting holistic coaching and social pressure to engage in at-risk behaviours.
Based on user testing, we found that people responded well to reminders for healthcare check-ups and age-related health milestones. To address this touchpoint need, we have developed a digital solution with physical interactions that includes a pilot program kiosk available to pharmacies for health risk assessments. The kiosk prompts users to take a two-minute survey to assess their potential risk of developing type-2 diabetes through the CanRisk application. This content can also be available through an interactive email format, marketed towards employers and services for employee engagement. The main objective is to build trust within a communication channel that can be scalable for other lifestyle and age related health risks, as well as ad-hoc health advisories such as heat waves, seasonal flus and other transmissible diseases.
Project Hope is an initiative to support Indigenous communities through the Legacy of Hope Foundation. Our project involves a variety of activities that allows us to engage with our community and raise funds for a great cause. We will organize a dinner and music event, “Rhythms from Brazil,” which is a night filled with live jazz music and delicious food that will bring together members of our community for a fun and meaningful way to support Indigenous communities. We will also hold a raffle for an indigenous keepsake, which will give participants a chance to win a unique and special item while supporting a great cause. Additionally, we will celebrate International Women’s Day and St Patrick’s Day with themed bake sales, where we will sell delicious baked goods that are specially made for the occasion. Lastly, we will provide an option for online donations, allowing individuals who can’t attend our events to still contribute to our cause.
All proceeds will be donated to the Legacy of Hope Foundation to support their work with Indigenous communities.
A smart phone application and martial arts body armour equipment are designed, programmed, assembled, and tested based on cost, sustainability, durability, and manufacturability for the purpose of enhancing martial artist’s training routines within the boundaries of the Android platform, closed source software, and client requirements.
The project was directed by the client, a Karate instructor, looking for better training solutions. The objective of the project was to deliver a working prototype of a mobile application that can communicate with a body armour to record strike data. The mobile application would aggregate strike power, location, and timing data gathered from each sensor and display it to the end user to provide a visual representation of progress and areas requiring improvement. The mobile application, in conjunction with the body armour, would enable martial artists to assign concrete data to their striking, both the power of the strikes and the locations of the strikes, allowing more informed and precise training. The visualisation of the data and gamifying certain elements would provide incentive to continuously train and hone their skills.
To achieve this goal, our team disassembled and embedded sensors connected to a microcontroller within the body armour provided by the client, this involved various electrical engineering work. The electrical circuits for the sensors went through different variations and required extensive testing to achieve the desired accuracy, granularity, and range for the sensor readings. A printed circuit board (PCB) was designed, printed, and assembled for the final circuit. Wires were routed throughout the armour and soldered to the PCB with the microcontroller. The microcontroller read and transmitted data to our mobile application.
The mobile application was built for Android using Kotlin, the official language for Android development. Communication was done through Bluetooth; the functionality was built from the microcontrollers side and the applications side. When entering one of the modes, the application read the transmitted data from the armour and display the appropriate data depending on the mode. Three modes were built, training mode with a configurable time that displayed strike strength, location, and averages to the user. The second mode was a speed game mode, giving the user one minute to strike the armour as much as possible, with their total strikes displayed and being their final score. The last mode was a strength game mode, giving the user ten seconds to strike the armour as hard as they could, displaying their greatest strike. Strike data was saved and persisted to allow the user to review their progress. The application allowed for multiple users, with the strike data tied to the appropriate user. Saving the users and strike data was done using SQLite, Androids bundled database.
There were various challenges along the way, but the project has been a success with a working prototype built. The project provided various exercises and concepts in both computer engineering and electrical engineering disciplines. Producing the prototype was a valuable experience which allowed for experimentation, creative thinking, learning opportunities, and team building.
The PLC-based Automated Irrigation System using Industrial Robot is a cutting-edge solution for clients that need a dependable and effective irrigation system for their home-farms, plantations, or gardens. Our team was charged with developing and deploying a system that would automate the irrigation process while reducing the physical work and water consumption associated with traditional irrigation systems.
Our client, a small-scale farmer, was experiencing a number of issues with their current irrigation system like Manual labour was time-consuming and physically demanding, restricting the farmer’s capacity to scale their operation. Furthermore, old irrigation methods frequently resulted in water waste, which is a major concern in locations with limited water supplies. The client was searching for a solution that would increase irrigation efficiency, minimise water usage, and allow them to expand their operations.
To meet the client’s requirements, our team created a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller)-based irrigation control system. The system includes an industrial robot that follows a predetermined course and controls the water based on the plant’s requirements. The PLC-based technology has various advantages over traditional irrigation methods. The technology is fully automated, which reduces the need for manual work and enables the farmer to easily increase their operations. Furthermore, the method is intended to cut water usage by focusing on specific regions of the farm or plantation that demand water.
We discovered the significance of communication and teamwork through this project. Our team collaborated closely with the client to understand their wants and specifications, allowing us to create a system that fit their specific requirements. We also learned the significance of testing and validation in ensuring the system’s dependability and efficiency.
Finally, the PLC-based Automated Irrigation System with Industrial Robot is a game-changing technology that outperforms conventional irrigation systems. Our team was thrilled to design and execute this system, which has assisted our client in improving their operations, reducing water usage, and increasing productivity. We are certain that this method has the potential to change agriculture while also benefiting the environment.
Our client, Mrs. Sienkiewicz, has requested our team build the foundations for members of her community to better interact with one another. This interaction would be just like a real physical bulletin board in a community centre. Users may upload pictures and notes to display relevant news, advertise events, and promote small businesses.
Our client is pleased with our work so far, as obstacles were few, and requirements were clear and manageable. Our greatest obstacle was the loss of two team members in the beginning of the semester and adding a new member three weeks into the course.
We learned valuable lessons in communicating frequently, planning, and learning new software. Software frameworks and languages we used, such as Angular, Node.js, Typescript and MongoDB, were completely new to some members of our team. Designing and executing a full enterprise application is a challenging task, especially using unfamiliar software.
Our project originated from the Plant Operations team at Algonquin College. Operators are responsible for the supervision and maintenance of heavy equipment that provide heating, cooling, water, and power to the College. This critical infrastructure is carefully monitored by operators through consistent daily inspections. During these inspections, plant operators track hundreds of data points across dozens of pieces of equipment sprawled across the campus.
Currently, plant operators use either paper and pencil or lug around a heavy laptop to log the results of these routine inspections. In addition to the mandatory daily checks of physical equipment, Plant Operators have many other responsibilities including the completion of maintenance requests and fire safety checks, as well as managing contractors.
By conducting user research, our team identified that the traditional logging process offered several areas of improvement that would help boost operators productivity on-the-job. The team decided that developing a mobile software solution would help plant operators become more efficient and eliminate the physical demands of carrying a laptop around heavy machinery and tight spaces. Through our research, the team also unearthed several important technical constraints, like the necessity for the application to function offline due to spotty Wi-Fi connections in certain areas of the College.
During our initial research our team quickly came to the realization that the work of plant operators is not easy to understand, so we decided it would be valuable for us to gain a deeper understanding of the logging process that we were aiming to improve. Donning hard hats, steel-toed boots and eye protection, several team members conducted an observation session by shadowing a plant operator completing their daily log. Over 10,000 steps later, across multiple buildings on campus, we emerged with a clearer understanding of the pain points the plant operations team faces on-the-job. Most notably, we discovered a large portion of the tracked data points are located on Human-Machine Interface (HMI) screens.
After analyzing our extensive user research results, we concluded the plant operators needed a solution that was mobile, offline-ready, and would run on their work-provided iPhones. As such, our team decided that the best solution for our client would be a native iOS application. Creating a native application enabled us to use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology from Apple to dramatically improve plant operators’ efficiency on-the-job. This image-to-text scanning technology allows operators to simply take a picture of an HMI screen to extract all of the relevant readings from that particular screen and populate the log.
Oper8 is a custom-tailored iOS application that reduces the time spent logging hundreds of data points during operators’ daily inspections. After completing their rounds, the plant operator can generate a spreadsheet to share with their supervisor. The application works seamlessly both offline and online, and safely saves log data so that anyone on the team can continue progress on the log where another operator left off.
As part of our Applied Project Management course, we were tasked with carrying out a charity event to raise money for the Legacy of Hope Foundation. The Legacy of Hope Foundation is a national and Indigenous-led charitable organization that is committed to promoting healing and reconciliation through education.
Our initial project plan was to host a pool tournament and a Capture the Ace raffle. For the Capture the Ace raffle, there were 52 envelopes, each with a playing card inside which is associated with a specific prize. We planned for guests to purchase raffle tickets to enter a draw where they would have the opportunity to select one of the 52 envelopes. However, due to anticipated risks that were identified in our project management plan, our project underwent a series of scope changes to meet the project timeline. The changes include converting to a casual pool event and changing our raffle to a standard raffle.
The goal was to raise $1,000 for the Legacy of Hope Foundation. Prior to our event we collected donations from friends and family and raffle prizes from various organizations. During our event we were able to secure more donations. We hosted our event at the Orange Monkey Bar & Billiards at 250 City Center Ave. Without their support and generous donation of their venue and pool tables, this event would not have been a success.
Our event was held on March 28, 2023 from 6pm-10pm. Many guests arrived on time and stayed for the entire duration of the event. The raffle winners were announced at 9pm in which 15 different prizes were distributed. Some examples of the prizes include a blender, movie tickets, and restaurant gift cards. The overall environment of the event was very intimate with all guests playing pool, mingling, and enjoying food and drinks served at the Orange Monkey. We believe that our event was a success because we were able to raise over $1,000 and we had a good turnout with many guests sharing their positive experience.
Following the event, our team entered the project closeout phase where we archived the project and submitted a lessons learned report. Additionally, all funds raised prior to and during the event were sent to the Legacy of Hope Foundation, totaling over $1200.
Our team, working under the guidance of the Public Health Agency of Canada, was tasked with understanding the public’s perception of sharing personal health information with public health agencies for the collective good. One of the challenges in the battle with COVID-19 was the misinterpretation of crucial public health information during a health crisis, which created panic and anxiety among people. PHAC shared with us how many Canadians use technologies to track their health on a daily basis, which could be valuable for future public healthcare initiatives and policy development.
To identify gaps of trust between people and public health organizations, we focused on wearable device users who regularly monitor their health to understand their motivations and perception towards sharing this information with public health agencies for the collective good. Our aim was to make people feel empowered and well-informed about their data decisions for public health.
We conducted literature reviews on the reliability of information collected on wearable devices, people’s motivation behind monitoring health, policies in place to safeguard privacy, and the measures taken around the globe. From this, we found that willingness to share personal health information depends on public involvement in the decision-making process and the importance of public trust when planning new technology offerings at a population scale.
Using a mixed-method approach, we designed our research using surveys and semi-structured interviews with participants and subject matter experts. We received 68 responses covering a range of demographics and conducted 16 moderated interviews to gain a deeper understanding of the participant responses. After organizing all of the qualitative and quantitative data, we developed insights and recommendations based on what we gathered.
We found that most people in Canada trust the privacy regulations in place and are willing to share their information with Public Health agencies as long as they are well-informed about the intent. Another important discovery was how many of them found the information presented on various public health information sources needed to be shorter, more complex and easier to understand.
Based on these findings, we developed two broad interventions that can help people feel involved and empowered about sharing their health information by making sure the public health information they access is quick, easy to understand, and accessible. Our solution involves emerging technologies like AI as an assistive tool that can help people summarize, explain, translate, and simplify complicated information or policies in Canada.
The critical function of this tool can be providing answers to various questions about Canada’s public health in a simple-to-understand language. This includes alerting people of nearby high-risk diseases so that they can stay well informed about disease prevention. Additionally, the tool can synthesize complex health-related documents for users by scanning, translating, or simplifying information like personal health records.
In conclusion, our project aimed to identify gaps of trust between people and public health organizations and to make people feel empowered and well-informed about their data decisions for public health. By providing access to quick and easy-to-understand public health information, we can help bridge the gap of trust between people and public health organizations, empowering people to make informed decisions about their health data and participate in public health initiatives that benefit the collective good.