ILuvWalle

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Inspiration

We were inspired by WALL·E and the growing need for smarter recycling solutions that make sustainability effortless for everyone.

What It Does

Our project automatically captures an image of any item placed in front of the camera and identifies whether it belongs in the recycling bin or the trash.

How We Built It

We built the system using a Raspberry Pi running a Python backend, integrated with the Google Gemini API for image recognition.
The app is hosted on Vultr with a Node.js frontend, connected via FastAPI, and managed using NGINX for smooth deployment and scalability.

Challenges We Ran Into

We faced challenges with server hosting and cloud provider configuration, especially ensuring consistent performance on limited hardware.

Accomplishments We're Proud Of

We successfully deployed our web app to our own server and gained valuable hands-on experience with the Raspberry Pi ecosystem.

What We Learned

We learned how to use Raspberry Pi, Docker, NGINX, and the Gemini API, as well as how to connect all these components into a cohesive system.

What's Next for ILuvWalle

We plan to collaborate with school environmental organizations to expand our database and help students properly categorize recyclables across campus.