Posted on

Lekha’s Status Report for 3/8/25

Work Accomplished:

This week, I was able to successfully set up the barcode scanner connected to the rasberry pi. I created code that is able to send the UPC value to the Rasberry Pi for processing. I tested this on various items and barcodes. I was also able to create the CAD design for the 3D printed case.

Progress Status:

I am on progress as now it is able to successfully scan barcodes and send it to the rasberry pi. Now, I will focus on connecting this with Aanya’s software system to retrieve the specific product using the UPC.

Next Week’s Goal:

  • Identify the product using the UPC code
  • Begin 3D printing case
Posted on

Lekha’s Status Report for 2/22/25

Work Accomplished:

This week, I focused on setting up the rasberry pi along with its power bank that was purchased through amazon. I was able to connect it to my computer and setup the initial configurations. However, I am still waiting on the barcode scanner to continue the hardware requirements of this week.

Progress Status:

I am still waiting on the delivery of the barcode scanner, which will allow me to start integrating it with the larger hardware system and connect the scanner’s output to the rasberry pi.

Next Week’s Goal:

  • Scan items through the barcode scanner + rasberry pi pipeline
  • Connect this with the open food facts api query
Posted on

Team Status Report for 2/22/25

Risks & Management:

Feature Prioritization

    • Risk
      • We may not be able to implement our full list of features such as AI meal recommendations or allergen substitutions
    • Contingency Plan
      • We are prioritizing our different features. The main functionality is cart tracking and item scanning. Then, we will prioritize allergen substitutions.

MQTT Connection & Network Issues

    • Risk
      • Network instability may cause message loss / delays in product updates.
    • Contingency Plan
      • Implement retry mechanisms to resend messages in case of failures.
      • If the network is unstable, store scanned product data locally on the mobile app & sync when online.

Design Changes & Justification:

  • Transition from Database to Open Food Facts API and Cache
    • Originally we planned to build our own database of aldi foods and information. However, we recently found an API online that is able to access the aldi inventory and return a product through its UPC, which is the output of the barcode scanner. Therefore, instead of using memory and time to build this database, we will query for it during the shopping
    • A concern of this is latency. Therefore, we want to use a cache to retrieve frequently used item in order to still meet our quantitative requirements.

Progress:

    • Started integrating LangChain to process scanned grocery items, cross-check them with planned meals, and request substitutions when needed
    • Created a schema to store scanned products, user dietary preferences, and updated meal plans, with basic CRUD for efficient data retrieval
    • Implemented MQTT client in the mobile app

 

Posted on

Lekha’s Status Report for 02/15/25

Work Accomplished:

This week, I focused on the hardware design aspects. We took a trip to ALDI on Thursday in order to mimic the customer experience and decided to make changes to our original proposal.

  1. New Hardware Design
    1. Barcode Scanner – $40
    2. Rasberry Pi
      • main controller / sync with mobile app
    3. Battery Pack
  2. System Flow
    1. User scans item (Barcode Scanner -> Rasberry Pi)
    2. Look up barcode in local database
    3. Extract Product Info
    4. Update App Data
    5. Display on App
  3. Database
    1. online API providing ALDI UPC (public)
    2. select subset of items
    3. Exceptions: some produce did not have barcodes. We will selectively leave them out for the scope of this project as there were not many of these products.

Progress Status:

Due to changing the product design, I am behind on the original schedule that involved setting up the Jetson and camera. However, a new schedule has been made with the new design concepts in light of the change, which should keep us on track for the MVP.

Next Week’s Goal:

  • Reserve Rasberry Pi and request for Barcode Scanner
  • Build local database of Aldi inventory (web scraping)
    • collect UPC and allergen info etc
  • CAD Prototype of clip-on device (casing + power supply)