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smart lockers
It was my second summer at Quicken Loans as an IT intern that I decided to spend some more time on process improvement. With an industry interest in advanced defense technology that can automate processes, my fellow intern Matthew Brown and I began working on a revolutionary project.
Easily my most ambitious project as a young technologist, we built out a working API and physical server that could support a "smart locker." The idea was that users could request technology through a web application if their laptop was left at home or they needed a new mouse/keyboard/headset. By using the web app they would be provided with a unique PIN code tied to their company RFID. Upon scanning their badge at a locker and typing in the PIN, the smart locker would open the door to their requested device and track the users status with said device.
Matthew knew a lot more about Python than I did, but managed to teach me quite a bit as he developed the lockers application side while I worked on the web app. I used PHP and SQL to form the interactive database, and built out the front end with CSS, Javascript and bootstrap. Then in an interest to go beyond proof-of-concept, I was able to help Matthew transfer the Python script onto a Raspberry Pi with a touchscreen and badge scanner to use as a working prototype. We even custom 3D printed a case for the device.
Due to our work on the project, we were able to present to the company's entire technology department during Quicken Loan's hack week. We were also fortunate enough to land a meeting with the Senior Vice President of Infrastructure and Operations to present our work.