Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Frank Pallone (6th District of New Jersey)
RoadWatch is an initiative to enhance road safety and address infrastructure issues
New Brunswick, NJ – Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) announced the winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge for high school and middle school students in New Jersey’s 6th Congressional District. Eric Dai and Vaibhav Sitaraman from Edison Academy Magnet School won this year’s competition. Their app RoadWatch is an initiative to enhance road safety and address infrastructure issues. Their app uses an AI-powered dashcam to detect road infrastructure issues, alert drivers, and report incidents to local governments.
“The Congressional App Challenge is an important platform for students to showcase their technical and creative skills,” said Pallone. “I congratulate Eric and Vaibhav for their winning app and applaud all of this year’s participants for their creativity. Year after year, the Congressional App Challenge brings out the best, brightest, and most innovative ideas from students across our district. I continue to be impressed by the ingenuity displayed by the winning teams each year and would like to thank the judges for their engagement and attention to this year’s contest. As the Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, I have seen how innovative technology creates new industries and opportunities for all Americans. I will continue to support investments in STEM education in New Jersey and across the country.”
RoadWatch’s proposes to transform drivers into a network of road-monitoring sensors with minimal cost, time, and effort. The application is compatible with both iOS and Android, and can be connected to a Raspberry Pi or regular dashcam using Bluetooth. These devices continuously capture footage while driving, with AI models analyzing the video stream for multiple purposes. The AI scans for issues such as potholes, cracked pavement, broken streetlights, and construction zones, and can even determine their severity based on the number of reports and the size of anomalies. In addition, the model can detect other environmental hazards, such as the presence of animals on the road, and send notifications to keep drivers alert. When the AI identifies an accident or near-miss incident, it can automatically start a 911 call to ensure that incapacitated drivers can receive immediate emergency treatment. Lastly, the application serves as a comprehensive road infrastructure monitoring tool. Detected issues are automatically aggregated onto map interfaces by location, which provide local governments with detailed, real-time data across their jurisdictions. The issues are grouped by category, making it easy for local officials to identify patterns, address unsafe road designs, and get localized insights.
The Congressional App Challenge is an annual competition that highlights the value of computer science and STEM education by encouraging high school and middle school students to learn how to code through the creation of their own apps. Entries in New Jersey’s 6th Congressional District were assessed by a panel of local experts on several criteria, including demonstrated knowledge of coding and programming skills as well as the quality and implementation of their ideas.
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