NEP-Based AI Timetable Generator 🎓

A full-stack MERN application for generating conflict-free academic timetables for multiple classes, divisions, teachers, labs, and NEP elective groups while respecting various constraints.

🚀 Features

Admin Dashboard

• Academic Structure Management: Define working days and daily lecture slots
• Class/Division Management: Manage multiple years (FY, SY, TY) and divisions (A, B, C, etc.)
• Classroom & Lab Management: Track rooms with type and capacity
• Teacher Management: Manage teacher availability by day/time slot and max hours per week
• Subject Management: Handle theory, lab, and elective subjects with credit hours
• Elective Batch Management: Group students into multiple electives with parallel room allocation

Timetable Generation

• Constraint-Based Scheduling Engine with:
  • Lab allocation (continuous 2-3 slot blocks)
  • Elective scheduling (parallel room allocation)
  • Core subject allocation
  • Conflict resolution using backtracking

Outputs

• Class-wise timetable view
• Teacher-wise timetable (TODO)
• Room occupancy chart (TODO)
• Export as PDF/Excel (TODO)

🛠️ Tech Stack

Frontend

• React 18.2.0
• React Router DOM 6.20.0
• TailwindCSS 3.3.6
• Axios for API calls

Backend

• Node.js with Express.js 4.18.2
• MongoDB with Mongoose ODM 8.0.0
• CORS enabled
• dotenv for environment variables

📁 Project Structure

timetableGenerator/
├── backend/
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── controllers/
│   │   │   ├── timetableController.js
│   │   │   ├── teacherController.js
│   │   │   ├── subjectController.js
│   │   │   ├── classController.js
│   │   │   ├── roomController.js
│   │   │   └── electiveController.js
│   │   ├── models/
│   │   │   ├── Teacher.js
│   │   │   ├── Subject.js
│   │   │   ├── Class.js
│   │   │   ├── Classroom.js
│   │   │   ├── ElectiveGroup.js
│   │   │   └── Timetable.js
│   │   ├── services/
│   │   │   └── scheduler/
│   │   │       ├── constraintSolver.js
│   │   │       ├── labAllocator.js
│   │   │       ├── electiveAllocator.js
│   │   │       └── conflictChecker.js
│   │   ├── routes/
│   │   │   ├── timetableRoutes.js
│   │   │   ├── teacherRoutes.js
│   │   │   ├── classRoutes.js
│   │   │   ├── subjectRoutes.js
│   │   │   ├── roomRoutes.js
│   │   │   └── electiveRoutes.js
│   │   ├── config/
│   │   │   └── database.js
│   │   └── app.js
│   ├── package.json
│   └── .env.example
│
└── frontend/
    ├── src/
    │   ├── pages/
    │   │   ├── Dashboard.jsx
    │   │   ├── ManageTeachers.jsx
    │   │   ├── ManageSubjects.jsx
    │   │   ├── ManageClasses.jsx
    │   │   ├── ManageRooms.jsx
    │   │   ├── ManageElectives.jsx
    │   │   ├── GenerateTimetable.jsx
    │   │   └── ViewTimetable.jsx
    │   ├── components/
    │   │   ├── TimetableGrid.jsx
    │   │   ├── FileUploader.jsx
    │   │   └── TeacherLoadChart.jsx
    │   ├── utils/
    │   │   └── api.js
    │   ├── App.js
    │   └── index.js
    ├── package.json
    └── tailwind.config.js

🗄️ Database Schema

Teachers

{
  name: String,
  department: String,
  availability: Map<String, [String]>,  // e.g., { Monday: ["9-10", "10-11"] }
  maxHoursPerWeek: Number
}

Subjects

{
  name: String,
  type: Enum['theory', 'lab', 'elective'],
  creditHours: Number,
  teacherId: ObjectId (ref: Teacher)
}

Classes

{
  name: String,
  year: Enum['FY', 'SY', 'TY', 'Final Year'],
  division: String,
  strength: Number
}

Classrooms

{
  name: String,
  type: Enum['classroom', 'lab'],
  capacity: Number
}

ElectiveGroups

{
  groupName: String,
  classIds: [ObjectId],
  subjectIds: [ObjectId],
  teacherIds: [ObjectId],
  roomIds: [ObjectId]
}

Timetable

{
  classId: ObjectId,
  weekSchedule: {
    Monday: [{ slot, subject, room, teacher }],
    Tuesday: [...],
    ...
  },
  generatedAt: Date
}

🚀 Installation & Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16 or higher)
• MongoDB (local or Atlas)
• npm or yarn

Backend Setup

1. Navigate to backend directory:

cd backend

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Create .env file:

cp .env.example .env

4. Update .env with your MongoDB URI:

PORT=8080
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/timetable-generator
NODE_ENV=development

5. Start the backend server:

npm run dev

The backend will run on http://localhost:8080

Frontend Setup

1. Navigate to frontend directory:

cd frontend

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Create .env file:

cp .env.example .env

4. Update .env with backend API URL:

REACT_APP_API_URL=http://localhost:8080/api

5. Start the development server:

npm start

The frontend will run on http://localhost:3000

📡 API Endpoints

Teachers

• GET /api/teachers - Get all teachers
• GET /api/teachers/:id - Get single teacher
• POST /api/teachers - Create teacher
• PUT /api/teachers/:id - Update teacher
• DELETE /api/teachers/:id - Delete teacher

Subjects

• GET /api/subjects - Get all subjects
• GET /api/subjects/:id - Get single subject
• POST /api/subjects - Create subject
• PUT /api/subjects/:id - Update subject
• DELETE /api/subjects/:id - Delete subject

Classes

• GET /api/classes - Get all classes
• GET /api/classes/:id - Get single class
• POST /api/classes - Create class
• PUT /api/classes/:id - Update class
• DELETE /api/classes/:id - Delete class

Rooms

• GET /api/rooms - Get all rooms
• GET /api/rooms/:id - Get single room
• POST /api/rooms - Create room
• PUT /api/rooms/:id - Update room
• DELETE /api/rooms/:id - Delete room

Electives

• GET /api/electives - Get all elective groups
• GET /api/electives/:id - Get single elective group
• POST /api/electives - Create elective group
• PUT /api/electives/:id - Update elective group
• DELETE /api/electives/:id - Delete elective group

Timetable

• POST /api/timetable/generate - Generate timetable
• GET /api/timetable - Get all timetables
• GET /api/timetable/class/:classId - Get timetable by class
• DELETE /api/timetable/:id - Delete timetable

🎯 Usage Flow

1. Setup Academic Structure

   • Add all teachers with their availability
   • Add all classrooms and labs
   • Add all classes and divisions
   • Add all subjects (theory, lab, elective)

2. Configure Elective Groups

   • Create elective groups for each class
   • Assign subjects, teachers, and rooms to groups

3. Generate Timetable

   • Click "Generate Timetable" button
   • System will allocate slots following constraints:
     • Labs get continuous time blocks
     • Electives run in parallel
     • No teacher/room/class conflicts

4. View & Export

   • View generated timetables by class
   • Export to PDF or Excel (coming soon)

🔧 Current Status

✅ Completed

• Full MERN stack boilerplate
• MongoDB models with proper schemas
• Express API routes and controllers
• React pages with TailwindCSS UI
• CRUD operations for all entities
• Placeholder scheduler services

🚧 To Implement

• Actual timetable generation logic in scheduler services
• Teacher availability constraint checking
• Lab continuous slot allocation algorithm
• Elective parallel scheduling logic
• Backtracking for conflict resolution
• PDF/Excel export functionality
• Teacher-wise timetable view
• Room occupancy charts

🤝 Contributing

This is a project scaffold. To implement the timetable generation logic:

1. Complete constraintSolver.js - Main scheduling algorithm
2. Implement labAllocator.js - Lab session scheduling
3. Implement electiveAllocator.js - Elective group scheduling
4. Complete conflictChecker.js - Validation logic

📝 License

ISC

👨‍💻 Author

Built with ❤️ for educational institutions implementing NEP guidelines.

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Note: This is a boilerplate structure. The timetable generation logic (constraint solver, backtracking algorithm) needs to be implemented in the scheduler service files.