Smart Jar

During the Spring 2020 semester, as part of "Internet of Things-In Depth" course, I designed an IoT product of my choice. This project is an extension from the previous project "The Milk Box"

Project Duration: 7 weeks (13th January, 2020 - 3rd March, 2020)

This project is an extension from my previous work, The Milk Box. The user research from that project yielded an insight of how people often tend to forget items that they have to buy at grocery stores. Going ahead with a similar approach, I want to create a device that can proactively remind me when I am running low of a certain stored item, so I will remember to buy it the next time I go to the grocery store.

I ran this idea across people along with the proof of concept to get further feedback and improvements that could be implemented in the prototype. Some of the key insights were:

• The battery powering the system should be have longer life in the range of months as users get frustrated to charge the devices frequently.
• User does not need to know the exact status of the contents stored and they do not need it on demand.
• Users need reminders to buy groceries only when they need it as they do not want to get bombarded with notifications.
• The notification will be effective only during times when users are outside and have the ability to visit a grocery store. This is usually in the morning or evening when they are heading out or towards home after work.
• The prototype should display visual feedback when it is functioning to affirm the user that the product is functioning.
• The prototype should also display visual feedback when the battery power is low.

Concept:

Based on the user feedback, the following were added:

• Green LED to show the status of the device
• Red LED indicated low battery status
• A push button was added to
  • tare the scale using long press(hold for 2 seconds)
  • record the weight in the jar using single press

• Designing and coding the algorithm, fabricating the prototype
• Working on low power IoT devices: Sleep modes and power management
• Working with load sensors, sharing sensor information on the internet through the Cloud API and allowing user interaction through web services like IFTTT.
• Think simple and include functionality that add value to the experience of using the enchanted object.

• Creating mobile application to handle the data generated instead of using IFTTT platforms.
• Running battery life tests and reliability tests to ensure performance during the product life
• Creating a dashboard to troubleshoot the circuits in case of malfunction.
• Improving battery life to the order of 6 months-12 months.
• Launching a Kickstarter campaign.

• https://diotlabs.daraghbyrne.me/
• https://blog.particle.io/2018/03/09/particle-mesh-101-device-roles-in-your-network/
• https://blog.particle.io/2018/04/20/particle-mesh-102-selecting-a-role-for-your-device/
• https://blog.particle.io/2018/04/28/how-to-build-a-wireless-mesh-network/
• https://www.particle.io/resources/power-management-for-iot-devices/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68N67ZVxTZ0&t=153s
• https://oregonembedded.com/batterycalc.htm