This week I worked on setting up a Google Cloud account and gaining access to the Google Maps APIs. After doing that, I was able to play around with the API and read more documentation to gain insight on how it works. Initially, I thought that we would need another API (maybe Overpass) to be able to geocode intersections, however I figured out that Google Maps actually has this capability, which is great. I also did research on communication latency with the Google Maps API. I expect the average will be around ~200ms, with maximum ~500ms. While this is fine, I want to implement a cache so we do not have to repeatedly ping Google Maps (hypothetically this is also a great cost-saving method).
Additionally, I worked on the design presentation slides that Colin presented on Wednesday. One particular point of feedback that I thought was important was that we currently have no form of input to our system. While Colin and I had discussed this before our presentation, we did not have time to come up with a solution since we were short on time due to pivoting. However, I think perhaps an audio input with an on-off switch (ie. button) could be a viable way of approaching this problem. I will talk more with Colin about this.
Referencing our Gantt chart, I will start implementing the backend this week. I think we are still slightly behind schedule given our late pivot, but hopefully we will be able to catch back up over the next two weeks. I will also be writing the design report with Colin.