Sports Training Simulation App For Coresports

From a technical perspective, the requirement of the client could be perceived as a complete system to monitor and simulate soccer training in the form of a digital game. In the existing product, user accounts and related features were handled by the official website that was developed in Wordpress. The actual game simulation was controlled by Raspberry Pi 4.

As it was a medium sized project, spanning over a course of almost 20 weeks, the development milestones were rather straightforward. The Raspberry Pi module needed a complimenting module in Python, an android version of the game was also to be developed with a supporting app and upgrade the website to a new technology and showcase the newest additions.

Based on the requirements, Flutter was the obvious choice for the mobile app, since the controller of the existing game was built in Python and the two technologies sit well together. For the website, JavaScript and Wordpress was used to enhance the existing experience with Firebase serving as the backend hosting service and JQuery for DOM traversal and manipulation.

As dictated by the engagement model, the initial 3-5 weeks were dedicated to designing. The designers toiled hard at creating a smooth UI and intelligent user flows for the application a well as the simulation. Post that, the website was brought under the spotlight and was designed from scratch.

Post designing, the first thing that was tackled was the game itself. A total of 11-15 weeks were established for the complete development process, which got delayed due to some new implementations that were unforeseen. The entire development was covered in a single phase, spanning over the complete duration.

In the previous build, the connectivity between the program and the controller was established using WiFi. To leverage the gaming pod setup in kiosks, we shifted the connectivity source to Bluetooth. To make that happen, a Flutter Package was developed from scratch that would enable Bluetooth pairing and connectivity between the Raspberry Pi Python module and the Flutter app. Some work was also done on improving the Raspberry Pi module for the said connectivity.

The Flutter app for android was developed to connect to Firebase DB for leadboards and setup controls. This, in turn, was used to control the RPi module in the simulation.

In parallel, one developer was focused on building the perfect website that would compliment the entire program. For the website, Wordpress was incorporated in the overall structure to add Sign-In and Profile Management features, which could be accessible from anywhere. Custom written JS scripts were also added to the Wordpress pages in order to connect to Firebase for user management and leaderboard data access.

Through the entire process, the client was kept in a constant loop of communication with daily calls, weekly sprints and was kept up-to-date on every detail of the project and its progress.

Alongside development, the product was put through multiple levels of rigorous manual testing to reinstate confidence in every function of the deliverables and sort out bugs that needed to be fixed. The client was kept in the loop through every stage. The deliverables were put through a developer level test round and were also put through an intense User Acceptance Testing phase where the end-user tested the product upto satisfaction and reported any discrepancies, if found which were fixed in the following updates.