Smart shopping cart using arduino

People tend to overshoot their budget when they are shopping at a big shopping center. The smart trolley helps the customer in ensuring that he does not overshoot his pre decided budget and only buys the essential commodities actually needed by him/her, also the system aids in eliminating the long q

Project Title

Smart shopping cart using arduino

Project Area of Specialization

Computer Science

Project Summary

People tend to overshoot their budget when they are shopping at a big shopping center. The smart trolley helps the customer in ensuring that he does not overshoot his pre decided budget and only buys the essential commodities actually needed by him/her, also the system aids in eliminating the long queues at the billing counter as the products are already scanned and the customer just has to pay the bill and bags the item purchased.This system provides on spot scanning of the product and shows its price details on LCD. This allows customers to compare the total price with the budget in the pocket before billing. Whenever a customer is done with his/her shopping and near to the billing counter, the data from the LCD is going to transfer to the billing counter computer.This system works only for those customers which are having the membership card of the mall. This is implemented by using RFID Tag and RFID Reader. We designed the system using the Arduino Development Board. The system using Arduino is less bulky and it can easily transfer from one place to another. It requires less power supply and we can easily improve the system, if required, because of its easy programming.The aim of this project is to facilitate the customers in their shopping and reducing the queue at the billing counter .In general, RFID Tag is attaching with membership card. RFID Reader is attached to the trolley. Whenever a customer put RFID Tag near to RFID Reader, RFID Reader detects the RFID Tag and trolley act as Smart Trolley. All this process going to works using radio frequency. Customer’s Smartphone acts as the barcode scanner. Customers have a mobile application on their smartphone.Whenever smartphone camera gets nearer to the bar code, it will decode the code of the barcode and the code will accept by Arduino Uno through Bluetooth Module. Each Barcode has a unique identity and gives total information about the product related data.The barcode scanned from the smartphone is transferred to Arduino Uno through Bluetooth Module. The android app is used to send barcode data serially to the Arduino Bluetooth module when a button is pressed on the application. The Receiver Bluetooth module at other end receives the data and sends it to the Arduino Uno through the receiver pin of the Bluetooth module.We require two Arduino Uno. One is at the transmitter which is attached to the trolley and another is at the receiver at which computer at billing counter is present. We display the product item’s name and price on the LCD. The LCD is attached to the trolley.Once the shopping is done, the data transfer from the trolley to the computer at the billing counter is done through NRF24L01. The NRF24L01 is a half-duplex transceiver. Supermarkets or hypermarkets use this concept as their business strategy to attract more number of customers.

Project Objectives

 The aim of this project is to facilitate the customers in their shopping and reducing the queue at the billing counter .

The key project objectives are stated here:

•   To design a microcontroller based cost effective smart trolley system using Arduino and user Smart Mobile Phone act as Barcode Scanner.
• To develop  user-friendly system which requires less power supply and it displays the total amount to the user on spot while shopping.

Project Implementation Method

• RFID Tags and RFID Reader: The Smart Trolley can be used by those customers who are having the membership card. In general, RFID Tag is attaching with membership card. RFID Reader is attached to the trolley. Whenever a customer put RFID Tag near to RFID Reader, RFID Reader detects the RFID Tag and trolley act as Smart Trolley. All this process going to works using radio frequency.
• Barcode Scanner: Customer’s Smartphone acts as the barcode scanner. A barcode is used to encode information in a visual pattern readable by the machine. Customers have a mobile application on their smartphone. A number of white and black color zebra strips are there on the barcode. Whenever smartphone camera gets nearer to the bar code, it will decode the code of the barcode and the code will accept by Arduino Uno through Bluetooth Module. Each Barcode has a unique identity and gives total information about the product related data. It is easy to generate barcode and they are cheaper as compare to RFID tags. So it is better to work with barcode when we have a number of products in supermarket or hypermarket.
• Bluetooth Module: The barcode scanned from the smartphone is transferred to Arduino Uno through Bluetooth Module. We used HC 05 Bluetooth module in which data is serially transfer to the Bluetooth receiver. In smart trolley system, the android app is used to send barcode data serially to the Arduino Bluetooth module when a button is pressed on the application. The Receiver Bluetooth module at other end receives the data and sends it to the Arduino Uno through the receiver pin of the Bluetooth module.  
• Arduino Uno: Arduino Uno is open source, microcontroller board based on the ATmega328P. It performs its functionalities with its 14 digital input/output pins, 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz quartz crystal, a USB connection, a power jack and a reset button. We can simply connect it to a computer with the help of a USB cable or we can use battery to get started. We can also power it with an AC to DC adapter. We require two Arduino Uno. One is at the transmitter which is attached to the trolley and another is at the receiver at which computer at billing counter is present.
• 20*4 LCD display: A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat display which is used to display the description of the product. 20*4 means we can display total 20 characters at any instance of time and we have total 4 rows and in each row, we can represent 20 characters. We display the product item’s name and price on the LCD. The LCD is attached to the trolley.
• NRF24L01: Once the shopping is done, the data transfer from the trolley to the computer at the billing counter is done through NRF24L01. The NRF24L01 is a half-duplex transceiver in which the data can transfer in both the directions but simultaneously data transfer in both the directions cannot be possible.

Benefits of the Project

In Smart Trolley System, now there is no need for the customers to wait in the queue and wait for his/her turn for the scanning of the product items. Especially during weekends or festivals season, there is not time wastage in waiting in the queue. The customer has to do only billing at the billing counter and only those customers can use the smart trolley who are having membership card where RFID Tag is inserted in it. So, supermarkets or hypermarkets use this concept as their business strategy to attract more number of customers.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The final product is a trolley embedded with arduino , RFID reader, a HC 05 Bluetooth module, a 20*4 LCD display and a NRF24L01  half-duplex transceiver to provide the most advanced smart trolley system and designed for a broad range of  commercial applications,  while the smart trolley connects to Android phone  HC 05 bluetooth module using Arduino.Once the shopping is done, the data transfer from the trolley to the computer at the billing counter is done through NRF24L01. The NRF24L01 is a half-duplex transceiver in which the data can transfer in both the directions but simultaneously data transfer in both the directions cannot be possible. The NRF24L01 is a simple chip which is designed for wireless applications and it operate on low power. It operates on ISM band (Industrial, Scientist and Medical) at 2.400-2.4835 GHz. We used this module for one way communication only. It means data is going to transfer from trolley to computer at the billing counter.

Final Deliverable of the Project

HW/SW integrated system

Core Industry

Manufacturing

Other Industries

Core Technology

Internet of Things (IoT)

Other Technologies

Sustainable Development Goals

Good Health and Well-Being for People, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Required Resources

If you need this project, please contact me on contact@adikhanofficial.com