🌍 HerMap: Menstrual Hygiene With Ease

🎯 Inspiration

The development of HerMap emerged from a critical need at Rutgers University.
Students frequently encountered uncertainty and stress when trying to access menstrual hygiene products across campus facilities.

🚨 The Problem

The existing process of physically checking multiple locations was time-consuming and frustrating.
Many students faced anxiety in emergency situations.

💡 The Solution

We envisioned HerMap, a solution that empowers students by providing real-time information about product availability, transforming a traditionally stressful experience into a seamless one.

📚 What We Learned

Through building HerMap, we gained profound insights into both technical innovation and social impact:

🔹 Tech Takeaways

🌐 Frontend (UI, Maps & AI Chatbot)

🗺️ Google Maps API – Custom markers & real-time washroom updates
📱 Responsive UI – Mobile-friendly with interactive design
⚡ Streamlit API – Built AI chatbot for menstrual health support
📊 Color-Coded Status – Quick visual indicators for product availability

🖥️ Backend & Database

🍃 MongoDB Atlas – Stores real-time washroom updates
⚙️ Node.js & Express – RESTful API for data retrieval & updates
🚀 Mongoose ODM – Schema-based data validation
🌐 CORS & Error Handling – Secure & smooth backend communication

⚡ Real-Time Features

🟢 Live Data Updates – Instant status changes for washrooms
🔔 Anonymous Notifications – Displays “Someone updated this 1 min ago”
🔄 WebSockets (Future) – Planned real-time sync across users

🤖 AI-Powered Chatbot (Phidata + Groq AI)

💬 Streamlit Chatbot – Interactive AI-based menstrual health assistant
🔍 Multi-Agent AI System – Web Search + PDF Knowledge Retrieval
🧠 Groq AI (Llama 3.3-70B) – Answers menstrual health queries
🔥 Vector Search with PgVector – Fast, accurate health info retrieval
🤝 Built with Phidata – A framework for multi-modal AI agents with memory, knowledge, and reasoning .

🔧 DevOps & Deployment

🔐 Secure API Keys – Environment variables with .env
🛠️ GitHub for Version Control – Collaboration & feature branching
📡 Postman API Testing – Debugging & endpoint validation

🔹 User-Centered Design

Balanced functionality and user privacy, ensuring sensitive health-related data is managed with care.
Created an inclusive and easy-to-use interface for all users.

🛠️ How We Built It

HerMap was developed using a powerful technology stack that ensures real-time functionality and a smooth user experience.

🎨 Frontend (User Interface)

✅ HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript – Designed an interactive and responsive interface.
✅ Google Maps API – Integrated custom markers with color-coded status indicators for instant product availability info.

⚙️ Backend (Data Management)

✅ Node.js & Express.js – Created a scalable server to handle API requests.
✅ MongoDB Atlas – Real-time data storage, ensuring instant updates across users.
✅ WebSockets – Enabled live synchronization of washroom data without delays.

🤖 AI-Powered Chatbot

💡 Powered by Groq AI & Phidata's framework, our chatbot provides:

Instant menstrual health guidance 📚
Real-time search capabilities 🔍
RAG-based knowledge retrieval 🧠

🚧 Challenges We Faced

Building HerMap wasn’t easy! We tackled several technical and ethical challenges:

❌ Real-time Data Management
✔️ Implemented MongoDB schema optimizations to ensure accurate, concurrent updates.

❌ Privacy Concerns
✔️ Ensured anonymous updates and made only relevant data publicly visible.

❌ User Interface Balance
✔️ Designed an interface that is both informative and discreet – keeping users comfortable and informed.

❌ Multi-Tech Integration
✔️ Coordinated mapping, real-time updates, and AI chatbot functionality seamlessly.

🌟 Impact & Future Directions

HerMap has evolved into a comprehensive platform that combines resource accessibility with health education.

🎯 How does HerMap help?

✅ Provides real-time access to menstrual hygiene resources.
✅ Empowers users to update availability instantly.
✅ AI Chatbot assists with menstrual health concerns.

📈 Future Enhancements

📷 Image Uploads for Verification – Ensure accurate washroom data
📢 Janitor Alerts – Notifications when supplies run low
📍 Geolocation Auto-Population – Capture user location for updates
📲 Progressive Web App (PWA) – Offline & mobile-first access

🌍 Final Thoughts

HerMap isn’t just an app—it’s a movement towards menstrual equity.
By leveraging cutting-edge technology, we're breaking barriers, reducing anxiety, and making hygiene resources accessible to all.

🚀 Join us in revolutionizing menstrual health accessibility!

🔗 Check out our project here:
👉 HerMap on Canva
👉 HerMap on Youtube