Backend Developer

Parking Hero

Community-Powered Vehicle Safety Platform

Django Django REST Framework PostgreSQL Celery Amazon EC2 Pytest Twilio SendGrid Pandas NumPy

Overview

Parking Hero is a vehicle safety platform that helps car owners receive timely alerts when their parked vehicle may be at risk. Using QR codes attached to vehicles, nearby users can notify owners about towing risks, parking time expiration, or suspicious activity. The platform automates notifications, reminders, and responses to ensure important alerts are not missed.

The Problem

Vehicle owners often have no way of knowing when something happens to their parked car until it is too late. Whether it is an upcoming tow, expired parking time, or suspicious activity, there is no quick communication channel between someone who notices the issue and the vehicle owner. Parking Hero bridges this gap by enabling nearby users to instantly notify owners through a QR code and an automated messaging system.

The Challenge

Building a reliable backend required handling secure APIs, scheduled background tasks, and automated notification workflows. The client was non-technical, so requirements evolved through continuous discussions and feedback. It was important to translate business ideas into scalable backend services while coordinating closely with the frontend team.

My Approach

✓Worked directly with the client to understand business requirements and convert them into technical solutions.
✓Designed REST APIs that were simple for the frontend team to integrate.
✓Collaborated closely with frontend developers to define API contracts and workflows.
✓Implemented scheduled jobs using Celery to automate reminders and recurring tasks.
✓Integrated Twilio and SendGrid for reliable SMS and email notifications.
✓Developed automated tests using Pytest to ensure API reliability.
✓Deployed backend services on Amazon EC2 and continuously monitored application behavior based on user feedback.

Key Solution Features

•REST APIs built with Django REST Framework
•Middleware-based authentication
•QR code notification workflow
•Automated SMS reminders using Twilio
•Email notifications using SendGrid
•Scheduled and periodic background tasks with Celery
•Automatic alert expiration after predefined reminder attempts
•Reporting and analytics using Pandas and NumPy
•Automated API testing with Pytest
•Production deployment on Amazon EC2

Technical Implementation

Frontend

REST API Integration

Desktop & Database

PostgreSQL

What I Learned

"This project strengthened my experience in designing production-ready backend systems, building asynchronous workflows with Celery, integrating third-party communication services, and collaborating with non-technical stakeholders. I also learned the importance of translating business problems into scalable API architectures while maintaining close coordination with frontend developers throughout the project lifecycle."

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