A personal hackathon project that solves a real-world problem: finding the nearest public toilets when you need them most.
During a weekend in Singapore, I faced an urgent situation—I desperately needed to find a public toilet nearby with no idea where to look. I could use Google Maps for restaurants, ATMs, or hospitals, but there was no easy way to search for public restrooms with specific amenities (free, wheelchair accessible, etc.).
Thought Process: If something this common is hard to find, maybe others face the same problem. What if I could build a tool that combines real-time geolocation with AI to make toilet discovery effortless?
Instead of another feature request, I decided to solve it myself. This hackathon project reverse-engineered the problem and built a working solution in a single sprint.
An AI-powered web app that:
- 📍 Locates nearby public toilets using your current position
- 🤖 Understands natural language queries ("find a wheelchair-accessible toilet near me")
- 🗺️ Displays results on an interactive map
- 🔍 Filters by amenities: free access, wheelchair accessibility, diaper changing facilities
- 🏗️ Reverse-engineers toilet locations from OpenStreetMap data
Live Demo: FindIt on GitHub Pages
- Node.js (v16+)
- npm or yarn
- A browser with geolocation support
git clone https://github.com/mandlcho/findit.git
cd findit
npm installnpm run devOpens http://localhost:3000 with hot reload.
npm run build # Create production bundle in dist/
npm run preview # Test the production build locallyTo deploy to GitHub Pages:
./scripts/run-pages-workflow.sh- Planned Toilet Visits: Save and plan trips to verified restrooms
- Community Reviews: Allow users to rate toilets by cleanliness, wait time, amenities
- Offline Mode: Cache nearby toilet data for offline access
- Real-time Updates: Show occupancy status / average wait times (via OpenStreetMap community)
- Smart Suggestions: ML model trained on visit patterns to suggest best toilets
- Mobile App: React Native version for iOS/Android
- Payment Integration: Partner with public restroom providers for premium facilities
- Accessibility Metrics: Detailed accessibility info beyond wheelchair access
- Environmental Impact: Track carbon saved by using public restrooms vs. searching inefficiently
- Internationalization: Support for 20+ languages and regional toilet terminology
Found a bug? Have a feature idea? Contributions are welcome!
# Create a feature branch
git checkout -b feature/your-feature
# Make changes, commit, push
git push origin feature/your-feature
# Open a pull requestMIT © 2025
- OpenStreetMap for toilet location data
- Leaflet for lightweight, beautiful maps
- Vite for blazing-fast builds
- Singapore's public restroom network for existing, though hard-to-find, infrastructure
Made with 🚽 during a weekend hackathon.