launTHry

/start, /check, /help function
/using /cancel function

Inspiration

Block wide telegram chats are often flooded with small unessecary messages, with one of the most common ones being the "dryer 2 done" messages. We wanted to create a solution to reduce the spam in our block chats along with creating a way to track the washing machine and dryer usage in our blocks without physically going down to the laundry room. Hence, we created "launTHry"!

What it does

LaunTHry (https://t.me/launTHry_bot) is a telegram bot that tracks the availability of the washing machines and dryers in TH's blocks' laundry rooms.

Steps to use laundry:

"/start" the bot
Use "/check", choose your block and the bot will generate a list of available machines.
Use "/using", choose your block and the machine you are using to indicate that you are using the machine.
Use "/cancel" if you picked the wrong machine

How we built it

Telegram bot: python-telegram-bot Hosting: repl.it

Challenges we ran into

As it was our first time coding a Telegram bot, we ran into many difficulties due to the unfamiliarity with the Telegram API.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

As first-time hackathon-ers, we are very proud of ourselves with coming up with a product in a short period of time.

What we learned

We learnt technical skills such as Telegram Bot development and using python-telegram-bot library.

We also learnt real-world problem solving - creating a practical solution for a cumbersome problem we face.

What's next for launTHry

Implementing automation features to send notifications when laundry machines become available or when a user's laundry cycle is complete.
Implementing automation features to mark a washing machine as being used when payment is made to the machine.

These could involve integrating with APIs or services such as complementary Mobile Applications.