PRE2015 3 Groep5

The FoodFetcher

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Introduction

The FoodFetcher is a system that collects information on what kind of food you have in stock and based upon this information it orders new groceries. The FoodFetcher operates through an app in which the user can put a standard list of groceries that need to be bought every x amount of time. The app also keeps track of what groceries are in stock and suggest a meal of the day based upon it. This supports a healthy lifestyle and tries to let the user eat various different cuisines.

Group members

Buster Franken 0912005 b.franken@student.tue.nl

Dayo Oladapo 0908184 d.oladapo@student.tue.nl

Jari van Steen 0914013 j.j.v.steen@student.nl

Jesper van de Grift 0961129 j.v.d.grift@student.tue.nl

Joost Pieterse 0848231 N/A

Michael Verhage 0848768 m.verhage@student.tue.nl

State of the Art

Attempts have been made to produce a smart fridge for various purposes:

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Users

Primary Users

Homeowners

These are the user(s) that possess a room where an intelligent system, that can track the user(s) groceries, is installed. They determine, primary, which products are used, throw away used products and pay the bills of said products. They interact with secondary and tertiary users

Implications

The most important implications for the primary user are that it is both easier to get your food since you don't have to go to the supermarket anymore to look for what you want to have, and you also run out of a product less easy since the FoodFetcher keeps track of your needs and adjusts its ordering mechanism to this. This will make it a lot easier for handicapped people or older people who don't find it that easy to go all the way to the supermarket, to get everything they want. It is also good for people who just don't like shopping or forget about it, or people who forget to buy some things when they are at the supermarket. The FoodFetcher will make the life of these people easier.

Needs

The primary user has a lot of needs. First of all, it needs a way of accessing all of the products so it can determine what he wants without fysically going to a supermarket or something like that. The user also needs a way of accepting products that it has ordered. The interaction with the FoodFetcher system should be easy as well for the main user, so he will not make any misorders for example. The user should also not get unwanted products because the system incorrectly thought the user would like them. The instructions on how the FoodFetcher works should be very clear to make communication with the FoodFetcher system even easier. The system also needs to be built in in existing homes, so that you don't have to redesign your whole kitchen for a FoodFetcher in your own home. At last, it is also necessary that the user can pay for their groceries.

Secondary Users

Family members & Friends

These are the people who might come over to the homeowner's house where they want to interact with the FoodFetcher. They should know how the system works and can interact with it via the homeowner's mobile app.

Implications

Right now, if an elderly of handicaped person is not anymore capable of going to the supermarket by him- or herself, his or her family members usually have to take over the job by shopping for them, even without perfectly knowing all of their preferences sometimes. One of the implications is that family members of elderly people do not have to shop for those people anymore if they can't shop for themselves, they can look it up for themselves what they want on the FoodFetcher app and then have it delivered. The possibility to pay together for foods and drinks may also come with the foodfetcher system, since people can order their own beers when they hang out for example. Besides that, food and drinks will be available for family and friends as the foodfetcher system can keep these kinds of things in mind and order items that your friends like, but are used up.

Needs

One of the needs for the family and friends of the homeowner, is that they can be able to access the foodfetcher on their own mobile phone outside the home of the homeowner, since this would enable them to help ordering food for people who can't do this themselves that easily, for example dementing people. However, this is not the most important need. Another need is the need for sharing in pay on the foodfetcher. For example, when you order the ingredients for a meal, it would be nice if everyone could pay for their own share.

Food distribution companies

The food distribution companies are the link between food producers and the food ordered by the FoodFetcher. They sell the products too the FoodFetcher (homeowner) and give order for delivery (either done by themselves or by an external delivery company).

Implications

For the food distribution companies, a lot changes when the foodfetcher will be used by many people. There will be a change in generating revenue and the type of jobs will also change. Instead of restockers, most employees will be delivery boys. There is also the opportunity to implement advertisements for certain food types. If there are two brands that sell the same product, the foodfetcher can suggest one of the two that has paid for advertising.

Needs

The needs for the food distribution companies are first of all enough people and materials to supply people with enough groceries, since you don't want people to wait an entire day for their groceries. The other important need is feedback that groceries are indeed delivered.

FoodFetcher producers

This is the company that designs, produces, sells and take feedback on the FoodFetcher. It is responsible for the FoodFetcher’s quality and workings.

Tertiary Users

Employees of grocery shops

The employees might face a change in job responsibilities in the grocery shop market. People’s physical shop buying habit might change into digital buying through the FoodFetcher. This could result in either job loss or occupation change of grocery shop workers.

Advertisement companies

The FoodFetcher may be a perfect platform for directed personal advertisement. A product can be advertised through the mobile app, by any advertiser. This can mean that a personalized shopping list may be offered to the primary user (homeowner). Advertisement companies can use the FoodFetcher for revenue.

Delivery of products

When an order is placed by the FoodFetcher, the products need to be shipped from the distribution companies. This delivery can be done either by standard delivery companies or a new service can be designed.

Maintainers of the FoodFetcher

When the FoodFetcher experiences failure or bugs it is important that the problem gets fixed in a short amount of time. Any food product contained by the FoodFetcher might go bad if the problem is not fixed. An external maintenance company might take this role.

Government

The FoodFetcher can provide a platform for directed personal health and lifestyle campaigns. Also any new system must adhere to regulations in order to be safe for use and can be produced without causing problems.

Implicatons

The first implication for the government is that there is a possibility for a healthy food campaign by making the foodfetcher propose healthy meals instead of junkfood. With the growing number of overweight people, this may be a really smart thing to do. Besides that, the government will get taxation income from the selling of the foodfetcher and products through the foodfetcher.

Needs

The job of the government is mainly to keep everything under the control. To achieve this, regulations will need to be put up, for example to clear up what happens if a person buys food and does't get it delivered at all. Advertisements will also need to be regulated in order to not make it go out of control. Also, trying to make the system hack-proof is something that the government is part of, so making the system as hack-proof as possible is also a need.

Scenario

What would it be like in a not to distant future with the FoodFetcher implemented?

A phone rings in the cubicle of a busy office. The man sitting in the cubicle answers “Hello?” his mind still with his work. On the other side of the line a woman's soft voice says; ‘Honey, have you thought about Valentines for tonight?’ The man’s heart rate rises, his mind runs down all the options. Restaurants are full and he didn’t make reservations. He mutters; ‘Err, sure honey...’ She says; ‘Oh you are so thoughtful, my mother was wrong in saying I shouldn’t marry you.’ Sweat runs down the man’s face.. But suddenly, he remembers. FoodFetchers. The man answers to his love ‘I am going to cook diner, just for the two of us’ He grabs his smartphone and fires up the FoodFetchers app. In the menu under the heading suggestions an extra option appeared for Valentines, as happens with every holiday. The man’s slowly steadying finger taps the option and waits while the data from his fridge and pantry at home is retrieved. Normally the man would use the daily FoodFetchers-diner-suggestion that sends a push-message with a diner suggestion at 12 o'clock. But today he was so busy he forgot to check his phone.

A notification appears, -FoodFetchers has made a selection for Valentines-diners based on what you’ve already got at home- The man rejoices. He can always trust his personal FoodFetcher-system. ‘Are you still there?’ His love asks. ‘Yes, I was.. just distracted, I’ll be home in a bit.. Love you’ ‘Love you to’ *click*. On the drive home the man sees a supermarket and recalls.. that just two years ago he and so many others, used to frequent this now almost abandoned building, daily. Most supermarkets now have changed layout and turned their shop employees into delivery boys and girls. It is understandable. FoodFetchers is so easy. It coming with standard food-stocking settings and downloadable upgrades. Even the man’s mother didn’t have to go to an elderly home because reheatable food-packages are now delivered daily. FoodFetchers even monitores for a variated and healthy eating habit.

The man pulls his car onto his driveway and sighs in relief, thinking; ‘with the little one on the way, I don’t know how I’d ever do without FoodFetchers. How did mý parents manage this..’

Prototype

The prototype of the FoodFetcher is what we want to fysically build within the few following weeks. Here, some specifications are given.

Requirements

These are the main requirements for the prototype of the FoodFetcher, derrived from the user needs.

• The foodfetcher needs to be able to scan which products are in stock in order to know how much is in the inventorty.
• The foodfetcher needs to be able to communicate with the user through the FoodFetcher app.
• The foodfetcher needs to be able to take into account user preferences about food, so that the user gets what hee wants.
• The foodfetcher needs to be able to order products and have a way of accepting products so that it is possible to retrieve a product after ordering it.
• The foodfetcher needs to be built in in current homes; it won't cost too much then
• The foodfetcher needs to to know how full a product in a package is, for example, there is a difference between a half full.

Preferences

• Easy interaction with FoodFetcher system
• All the functionalities need to be as clear as possible through instructions
• Least amount of work that needs to be done by the user to make the system work (autonomous)
• Compatible with as many kitchens as possible
• As difficult as possible to hack
• As cheap as possible

Hardware

• Pressure plates: to detect a product and how much it weighs
• Label on the product: to be able to scan what product it is and what expiration date it has
• Moving light sensor: to detect the label on the products
• Arduino: to control and use the hardware
• Raspberry pi: to control the software

Software

We eventually want to have an app in which we can keep track of every product in our kitchen. We want our app to do the following:

• Giving an overview of products you have
• A list which tells us to remove an expired product
• The expiration dates of the products in your kitchen

To manage our app, we are planning to use the systems as stated below:

• ZXing library android in order to scan the barcodes on the labels
• Outpan API to retrieve the information of a product (unfortunately incomplete)
• zinc.io API to order food from amazon UK (future)

Future improvements

Of course we want our system to work as fine as possible and we want to be as user friendly as possible. However there are some improvements we would like to see in our final product which we can't imply now. The following lists states those functions.

• Suggestions for a recipe if, for example, some products expire soonly and you (onviously) don't want to throw them away
• Camera moving on both the X plane and the Y plane to be able to scan more products
• Removing products which are expired
• Order products you want or need and pay for them by using the app