Divya Sundar's Team

A custom Alexa skill, created using Python, that determines the price of treatment and the hospital at which they can get it for a specific medical condition per the user's input. By importing data from an accurate JSON file, and connecting the code with an Amazon Alexa, the user can input a certain state and medical condition and the Alexa will return the average price pulled from the data set.

We all had experience with coding through school and practicing on our own. The backend portion of the project (how Alexa actually functions) was handled by Amazon. This backend takes care of basic skill functions such as opening a skill, asking for help, and stopping a skill. The actual skill, though, was built and coded by us using the frameworks Amazon provides.

Throughout the process we faced numerous problems. The biggest challenge was debugging our code. Coding in the Amazon Developer Console does not function like a regular IDE, so the debugging process was different than what we were used to. Another noteworthy challenge was handling all the errors, since the user can say anything in response to the Alexa we had to make sure to account for all possible inputs. Through perseverance, meeting as a team, and instruction from our mentor we overcame all problems.