Food Item Tracking Device with Barcode Scanners
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tracking devices for food items in refrigerators and pantries lack the capability to retrofit bar code scanners and remote communication with personal electronic devices to generate alerts when food items expire.
Innovation Solution
A tracking device comprising a plurality of scanners mounted in refrigerators and pantries to scan barcodes, with communication units that broadcast data to an extrinsic communication network, and personal electronic devices that store analysis programs to track shelf life and generate alerts when expiration dates are reached.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If bar code scanners are retrofitted into refrigerators and pantries with remote communication capability, then food item tracking and alert generation is enabled, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into separate functional modules: barcode scanners mounted in refrigerators/pantries, communication units for data transmission, and personal electronic devices with analysis programs. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently, reducing the complexity burden on any single device while maintaining reliable tracking across the distributed system.
Solution Approach 2:
An extrinsic communication network serves as an intermediary between the barcode scanners in refrigerators/pantries and the personal electronic devices. This mediator enables remote communication and data exchange without requiring direct connection between scanners and personal devices, simplifying the overall system architecture while ensuring reliable food expiration tracking.
2Ease of operation
If multiple personal electronic devices store analysis programs for tracking shelf life, then remote alert generation is improved, but loss of information increases due to network dependency
Solution Approach 1:
Each personal electronic device stores a complete analysis program locally, enabling it to independently analyze scanned data and generate alerts without requiring continuous network access. This local capability ensures that critical food safety information can be processed and acted upon even when network connectivity is unavailable, reducing information loss risk while maintaining ease of remote operation.
3Loss of time
If scanners broadcast data to extrinsic communication network continuously, then real-time tracking is improved, but use of energy increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of continuous broadcasting, the system uses periodic scanning triggered by food item removal or addition events. The barcode scanners activate only when needed to scan food items, and the communication units transmit data periodically or on-demand rather than continuously. This approach maintains real-time tracking capability for food expiration while significantly reducing energy consumption compared to continuous operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A food item tracking device includes a plurality of scanners to scan a barcode of a food item being removed from a refrigerator or a pantry. Each of the plurality of scanners has a communication unit is in remote communication with an extrinsic communication network. A plurality of personal electronic devices is in remote communication with the extrinsic communication network such that each of the plurality of personal electronic devices receives the identity and the shelf life of the food item scanned by a respective scanner. Each of the plurality of personal electronic devices storing an analysis program to track the shelf life of each of the food items that are stored in the refrigerator and the pantry. Furthermore, the analysis program generates an alert when the analysis program associated with each of the plurality of personal electronic devices determines that a shelf life has expired.