UPLBeat

The Problem

During the COVID-19 pandemic, UP Los Baños needed a way to manage campus access — tracking who entered, their health status, and enforcing quarantine protocols — without relying on paper forms that were slow and hard to audit.

The Solution

I built UPLBeat as a Flutter app with Firebase backend for real-time campus health monitoring.

• QR code check-ins — Students and staff scan a QR code at campus entry points, logging their visit with timestamp and location.
• Health condition logging — Daily self-reporting of temperature, symptoms, and exposure history.
• Admin approval workflows — Campus health officials review flagged entries and approve/deny campus access based on health data.
• Firebase real-time sync — All data updates propagate instantly to admin dashboards for university-wide monitoring.

What Went Wrong

The initial QR scanning used the device camera's default focus mode, which was slow to lock onto QR codes in low-light entry points (building lobbies, parking garages), causing queues at check-in.

The fix: I configured the camera to use continuous autofocus with torch (flashlight) auto-activation in low-light conditions, and added a larger scan region overlay to make aiming easier. This cut average scan time from 4 seconds to under 1 second.

Results

• Sub-second QR scanning even in low-light conditions
• Real-time admin dashboards for university-wide health monitoring
• Secure health data with Firebase authentication and rules