Paw Scanner

A QR code for a lost pet
A QR code for a stray dog
An example page for a stray dog

Inspiration

There are many stray dogs in Nepal, many of whom have diseases or injuries. We came up with the idea that these dogs should be treated with proper medicine, and are more likely to be adopted if they are in good health. It would be cost-prohibitive for the government to shelter all of these dogs, but if there were a way to keep track of this, the dogs and the people around them would be better off.

What it does

We create a QR code for each dog, which may be attached to a collar or tag. This QR code can be scanned with an ordinary camera app or scanner app in order to retrieve information about the dog, including its vaccination history identifying information, so that lost dogs can be returned to their owners and stray dogs can be properly treated.

How I built it

We developed a web page using HTML, CSS, and Bootstrap to hold information about the dog after a tag is scanned, and a database to store this information. There is also a RESTful API implemented in Node.js that handles the exchange of information between the database and web page. There is a unique web page for each tagged dog, and its link is embedded in the QR code.

We first developed and tested our solution locally, and then deployed it to the cloud on MongoDB Atlas and Google App Engine.

Challenges I ran into

Authentication and configuration was difficult on the Google Cloud Platform. We were eventually able to solve this issue by developing locally and then deploying, instead of having a "mixed" local/cloud development environment.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

We believe that our solution has the potential to make a big difference for dogs and communities around the world—not only in Nepal, but also around the world.

We're also proud that we were able to build a fully working demo! This was the first hackathon for three of our team members, and was a great learning opportunity for all of us.

What I learned

We learned how to use MongoDB, and some of the differences between relational and non-relational databases. We also learned a lot about how to deploy a project into Google Cloud. We also learned a lot about how to work as a team and prioritize goals under a tight deadline—timeboxing our brainstorming process and laying out clear, incremental steps toward our demo were essential to completing our project on time.

What's next for Paw Scanner

We need to further flesh out the process for adding and updating data for a newly tagged dog. We focused primarily on the processes and use cases of reading data. We'd also like to add a permission system so that only vets can add immunizations to a dog's data, while anyone would only be able to read it. We also want to consider the possibility of using RFID instead of QR codes—we worry that collars may be damaged or easily removed.