My Project: "EcoRoute - Sustainable Navigation"

I've always been passionate about technology and sustainability. My goal was to create an application that not only helped people get around but also encouraged them to make more eco-friendly choices. That's how EcoRoute was born – a navigation app that prioritizes routes with lower carbon emissions, suggests public transport or bicycles whenever possible, and even points out nearby recycling collection points.

The idea was complex: integrating traffic data, vehicle emissions, public transport schedules, and recycling point locations. It felt like a rollercoaster of APIs and algorithms.

How Bolt.new Accelerated Development

I had some prior web development experience, but the challenge of building a robust and scalable architecture felt a bit daunting. That's where Bolt.new came in, and honestly, it transformed my process.

Bolt.new allowed me to kickstart the project with a predefined, cloud-optimized backend structure in a matter of minutes. I didn't have to worry about the initial setup of servers, databases, or authentication. It came with ready-to-use templates for integrating with various services, which was a game-changer for consuming the multiple APIs EcoRoute required (Mapbox for navigation, open transport data, etc.).

The agility Bolt.new provided was incredible. Instead of spending days configuring the environment, I could focus directly on EcoRoute's business logic: the sustainable route calculation algorithm and the user interface. This tool gave me the freedom to innovate without the burden of infrastructure.

Tackling the "Emissions API" Challenge and AI's Role

One of the biggest challenges I faced, even proposed by a hypothetical "sponsor" looking for smart city solutions, was integrating precise carbon emission data per vehicle type and route. Initially, I thought about developing a complex model from scratch. However, Bolt.new facilitated the connection with an external carbon footprint calculation service, allowing me to send route parameters and receive an estimated emission value.

This not only saved an immense amount of time but also ensured a level of accuracy I would hardly have achieved on my own in such a short period. Bolt.new's flexibility to integrate third-party services was crucial here.

Furthermore, generative AI was a great ally at this point. I used prompts like "generate Node.js code to calculate distance between two points using Haversine formula" or "create a Python function to estimate CO2 emission based on vehicle type and distance." AI not only provided me with efficient code snippets but also helped me refactor parts of my code, suggesting performance and readability improvements.

This AI-powered development approach allowed me to experiment faster, test different algorithms, and ultimately build a more robust product in less time. AI didn't replace my logic but acted as an intelligent "co-pilot," expanding my capabilities and accelerating prototyping.

My Favorite Snippet and a Shift in Approach

During development, I realized some route optimization functions were repetitive. I loved using this JavaScript snippet to clean and format the navigation API data, making it more readable for the front-end:

// Function to extract and format essential route points for display.
function formatRoutePoints(rawPoints) {
  return rawPoints.map(point => ({
    latitude: point[1], // Latitude is typically at index 1 in [longitude, latitude] pairs
    longitude: point[0], // Longitude is typically at index 0
    // We could add other relevant properties if the API provided them, like elevation.
  }));
}

Before EcoRoute, I viewed AI more as a tool for complex analyses. Now, I see it as a practical development accelerator. The ability to generate code drafts, debug, and refactor with AI's help has led me to adopt a more agile and experimental approach. Instead of getting stuck for hours on a problem, I can ask for suggestions and explore different solutions quickly. This gives me more confidence to tackle ambitious projects and allows me to focus on creativity and innovation, knowing I have a powerful tool by my side.

Thank you for reading.