Plant Search

My name is Melanie Allen, and I am a Computer Science - Software Development major. I am currently in my last semester in my associate degree at Columbus State Community College in Columbus, Ohio.

For my capstone project, I intend to create a dynamic plant identification website with Java's Spring Boot framework. I intend to create a website that allows users to input a picture of a plant, and AI will take the image and attempt to identify the plant. After identification, my website will search the catalogues of plant nurseries in Columbus, Ohio to see whether the plant is available for purchase. Similar plant identification apps and websites exist, such as Blossom, Leafsnap, and Seek. The two major differences between my project and others are user access and extra capabilities. Most of the apps available for download require payment for access to their full services. Some apps require payment for any use of their technology. Meanwhile, my app will be free. Additionally, I have not come across an app that searches nearby store catalogues for inventory availabilities. In this way, my app will have extended capabilities, and go one step further than the others.

I chose this project because I believe a full-stack application can demonstrate that I have experience with both back-end and front-end programming. I was also made aware that Spring Boot is a very popular framework in the workforce. While I have used Spring Boot in another class, I want to better understand the frameworks and its capabilities. I chose plant identification because plants are complex objects with specific but oftentimes subtle differences, so it would test the abilities of the AI being utilized.

Several Additional Courses I have taken in my time as a Columbus State student