Behind the Build
Behind the Build
Embedded Files
Roadmap to build the project
Roadmap to build the project
Lessons and challenges
Lessons and challenges
Week 1
Week 1
Challenges:
I struggled with make a fire simulation in Unity. Wildfires are hard to predict and simulate, especially in Unity that has no native fire simulator. I spent a significant portion of this week researching wildfire patterns and looking for Unity guides.
I struggled with identifying the right contacts and getting their contact information. Following that, sending cold emails and waiting for responses was daunting
Lessons
This week, I learned to remain persistent while awaiting responses from the contacts.
Since this is my passion project, I also have to manage my time carefully. I learned to balance this project with SAT prep, volunteer work, and my internship.
Week 2
Week 2
Challenges:
Getting Unity to work, particularly the fire spreading simulation.
Finding the right contacts to participate in the July 4th event.
Balancing performance on the game as the fire particles are brutal on my potato computer.
Lessons
I talked to a firefighter and learned of the safety zones in our city. I also found the problems that plague FootHill Parks, which has only 2 exists in case of emergencies.
Send as many emails as possible. Not everyone will respond.
Week 3
Week 3
Challenges:
This week I made a lot of progress on the simulator. I ran into problems with storage on my computer. I ended up having to move my project to a different computer to continue development.
This week I went around asking for funds from local business to purchase prizes for the Chili Cook Off Festival on July 4th. I am an introverted person and it took effort to go pitch my project.
Lessons
I have learned to manage how many project you are running on a computer. Running too many projects that require applications that take a lot of storage is an easy way to slow down your progress and computer.
Don't be afraid when you go and pitch your ideas. The worst they can say is no.
Week 4
Week 4
Challenges:
This week I held my booth at the Chili Cook Off Festival in Palo Alto. Some challenges I ran into where the logistics of preparing for the festival. I spent hours driving around to get the posters printed, foam boards, stickers, and candy.
Another struggle was recruiting my friends to help run the booth. Huge shoutout to them, I could not have managed everything without them.
Lessons
Order everything well ahead of time. Shirts, pens, and other online orders may arrive later than you expect.
Don't be afraid or doubt yourself. Even though things have a chance to fail, they still could end up far more successfully than you expect.
The community is open to learning new things. Sometimes they may not know what they don't know or want.
Technology can help get your message across and even attract people to listen to your message.
Know your audiance. I thought the majority of non-english speakers would need Spanish translations, but the majority were looking for Chinese translations.
Week 5
Week 5
Challenges:
I worked on adding the different languages (Chinese and Spanish). I found it hard to work with different languages and getting them to fit in the same text box.
I went to a homeless camp to give out supplies and wildfire preparedness material. However, I quickly found out they cared primarily about supplies over the materials. ICE has also made the situation harder.
Lessons
Don't assume everyone will have the same experience with your product/service.
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