!
I am Wee Kiat, a Software Engineer based in Singapore.
I enjoy architecting elegant software solutions that solves real world problems.
Also, I enjoy photography.
NaviAssist Background
This is a final year project I have done in Singapore Polytechnic. I was the Assistant Team Leader in a group of 4.
NaviAssist is built upon a previous project known as “Directie”. Directie is a mobile application that provides a means of navigation for the visually impaired. It employs the use of Bluetooth beacons.
In NaviAssist, we applied the navigation system on a Raspberry Pi Car Kit (PiCar) to use as an automated testing and logistics tool. Simultaneously, we improved the navigation system in Directie mobile app.
Features
- Replace human tester with PiCar when testing mobile app navigation system
- Indoor logistic system with easy setup
- Enhance Bluetooth indoor navigation
Under the Hood
Our applications are developed in 
Ionic (Mobile) and 
Express.js / EJS (Web).
NaviAssist leans into the Cloud Computing for its infrastructures. It utilises several 
AWS Suite offerings such as — API Gateway, AWS Lambda, RDS, IOT (MQTT).
Firebase is also used for its Authentication, Image Hosting and Real-time Database functionalities
On the Internet of Things (IoT) side of things, we used a 
Raspberry Pi with sensors like ultrasonic and light. The logic of our PiCar is written in 
Python. Accompanying our robot are the 
Bluetooth Low Energy Beacons that are used as location markers.
Project Insights
This project was an extremely valuable experience. I had the opportunity to utilise the different offerings in the AWS Suite, such as IoT and Lambda. The premise of the project, using bluetooth beacons to implement positioning and navigation, is really novel. Having worked on it, I felt that it broadened my horizon as a software engineer.