ScanWich

Do you know what's in your fridge? No you don't, that's why there's a sad avocado at the back. What if your fridge told you what was about to go bad? Introducing ScanWich!

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Inspiration

Our concept stemmed from a common kitchen frustration: buying perishables like avocados that are not ready to use immediately. Often, we put them in the fridge to ripen, only to forget about them which leads to unnecessary waste when they go bad. We thought a magnet with a smart reminder would be a practical solution to help us keep track of when our food is ready to use.

What it does

A smart fridge magnet with an integrated LCD screen that works with your phone. Snap a picture of your grocery receipt, and the app automatically identifies perishable items and displays timely reminders on the magnet so items do not go bad!

How we built it

  • Backend:
    We developed a server using a Flask API that integrates computer vision techniques with Tesseract OCR to extract text from scanned receipts. The server was tested with Postman to ensure reliable performance.
  • User Interface:
    We designed a user-friendly interface using Figma, making the app easy to navigate. A non-functional wireframe has also been developed.
  • Hardware:
    Our hardware features an LCD module housed in a custom case designed with SOLIDWORKS.
  • Integration:
    By connecting the scanned receipt data to the magnet via our server, the system can display real-time notifications about when your food is nearing its expiration.

Challenges we ran into

  • Varied Coding Experience: Not everyone had extensive coding expertise, which meant we had to quickly learn and collaborate on new skills.
  • Hardware Hiccups: We accidentally soldered some pins together on the Raspberry Pi. This mishap turned into a valuable learning experience as we figured out how to unsolder and fix the issue.
  • Logo Design Iterations: Our logo design required several rounds of trial and error before we landed on a version that everyone was happy with.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Our team successfully learned how to solder —and unsolder— pins on the Raspberry Pi.
  • We successfully got the LCD screen to work!
  • We also gained practical experience with React.

What we learned

  • We have a better understanding of text/OCR recognition libraries and microcontrollers.
  • We improved our team management by delegating tasks based on individual strengths.
  • Many of us gained hands-on experience soldering pins and assembling hardware components.
  • Several team members picked up basic GitHub commands and developed their coding skills.

What's next for ScanWich

  • Deploy our server to the cloud for more accessibility.
  • Refining our OCR and notification features based on user feedback.
  • Integrate a color LCD display that changes based on how close food is to expiring, providing a visual alert.
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