System Purpose
The THM Registration Desk is a specialized logistics system designed to solve the bottleneck at large technical meets. It enables volunteers to authenticate participants instantly by scanning digital tickets, ensuring a secure and frictionless entry process.
System Architecture
The project focuses on high availability through a serverless, mobile-first design:
- Frontend: A mobile-optimized PWA providing volunteers with fast QR scanning capabilities directly from the browser.
- Backend: Powered by Google Apps Script (GScript), offering a completely serverless architecture that interfaces directly with Google Sheets for data storage.
- Data Layer: Processes live check-in statistics to a shared Google Sheet, allowing organizers to monitor attendance in real-time.
Key Features
QR-Driven Admissions
Students receive QR-coded tickets generated by the system. Volunteers scan these codes with the PWA, which instantly validates the participant against the master registry and marks them as attended.
Volunteer Authentication
A secure login system ensures that only authorized personnel can access the ticketing data and modify check-in logs.
Technical Implementation
The connection between the frontend and GScript ensures that once a ticket is scanned, the master database is updated in milliseconds, preventing duplicate entries and providing instant transparency to the organizing committee.
Outcome
The system successfully handled the registration flow for the IEEE Travancore Hub Meet (THM) without failure. Average check-in time was reduced from minutes to seconds, significantly improving the participant experience and providing real-time visibility into student attendance.
Lessons Learned
- Integrating browser-based QR scanning eliminates the need for expensive dedicated hardware at a registration desk.
- A Google Sheets-backed system is a cost-effective and highly collaborative solution for medium-scale event logistics.