Lockal: The Local Locker

Lockal box
Lockal logo
Screenshot

Inspiration

After spending a long time brainstorming as a team, we eventually came to focus on mitigating the problem of waste. Looking at infrastructure that already existed in our society, we ended up noticing that all of them focus on sharing of some resource, as opposed to individual consumption of said resource. Trains and buses move many people at once, so that they do not have to each travel in their own cars. Public water utilities ensure that everyone has access to water, rather than everyone getting their own. Libraries share books, so that not everyone has to buy their own. In spite of all of this, there is no infrastructure for generalized sharing. This is where we came up with the idea of Lockal, which would act as infrastructure to enable sharing of not just books, but also weed whackers, deep fryers, beach balls, and everything in between.

What it does

Lockal is a shared storage and borrowing network. It exists as a set of Wi-Fi-enabled lockers that people can locate and check things out from using a web portal. By enabling people to store their unused products, and allowing others to use them, Lockal stops people from buying things when they don't own them, and stops people from throwing things out when they don't use them. This helps foster more sustainable community consumption patterns.

Users will log into the website and search for lockers near them. Upon selection of a locker and items to check out, the site will give them a one-time code for the locker. Entering this one-time code to the locker will open it, so they can take out their desired objects.

How we built it

The first component that we built was the WiFi-enabled locker. This depends on a raspberry pi, which is connected to a keypad (for the code) and a servo motor (for the lock). The pi is connected to the internet so that it can receive the one-time codes.

The website is connected to a database of objects, each of which is associated with a location. SQL queries are used to search through the database upon the user's request. The search results are displayed on the frontend using HTML. Upon checkout, the one-time code is sent to the raspberry pi using an HTTP request.

Challenges we ran into

One challenge was the integration of the hardware and software components in one product. It was particularly difficult to enable communication between the raspberry pi and the website so that new codes could be given to the locker.

Another challenge was the use of SQL in the backend using DuckDB, as search functions needed to be made in python, while the database needed to be traversed using SQL. In general, this project used many different components of different types, and integration of all of these different components presented a significant challenge.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

This having been one of the first hardware projects that we have made as a team, we are very proud of both having a working internet-connected hardware component and being able to work effectively as a team. We utilized our different skillsets in the many different facets of the project, efficiently developing a complex product.

What we learned

One major lesson was the importance of planning in product development. The idea being fully fleshed out before development began enabled us to work efficiently, as we already knew exactly what we needed to build, and were sure that it was good.

What's next for Lockal: The Local Locker

One issue that was brought up during development was that checking out was minorly flawed. It was possible for two people to check out from a locker at around the same time, resulting in one code being invalidated, as the other person's code overwrote it. This issue could be fixed later through the inclusion of proximity sensing to the system; checkout could only be allowed if a user is within 10 feet of the locker, ensuring that people take items out from their lockers immediately after checking out.

Also, Lockal may not be very widely used due to installation costs if the company is not managed properly. To this end, Lockal would implement an advertising strategy focused on city and local governments. Since operation cost is nearly zero, the only cost would be that of installation. If city and local governments were targeted, these costs could be footed by local government, enabling the spread of Lockal's technology.