A smart inventory control system

Abstract

In these days, technology is ubiquitous, especially in households where people are veering towards hi-tech devices. Due to the fact that people are expecting more and more from such devices, home automation is on the rising trend. A network connected fridge which is aware of it contents will definitely lead to many possibilities. The aim of this project is to provide a means to help household reduce the amount of food wastage and power consumption. The Smart Inventory Control System is a system which is composed of an embedded device and a web application. The system provides information on items which are currently stored in the fridge, items which are about to expire and information on items that need to be replenished. The system also provides a search facility. In order to avoid registering information on products that are to be checked into the system, the system makes use of ready available information which is downloaded from a third party source. The device was designed and implemented using the SiLabs C8051F120 microcontroller development module. An I/O interface board was designed to provide the facility to connect external devices to the microcontroller. The board incorporates six input buttons and an LCD module in order to provide interactivity with the user. Although this application is particularly designed to supplement the fridge its use can be easily extended for various other contexts.