We come across local food storage system in home based kitchens. Usually they are unscientific. Hence there is a chance for food grains getting damaged due to moisture, humidity, temperature and various other factors. Also people now days due to their busy life schedule have tendency to get the food grains stored for a specific period so that they can avoid shopping of the same more often with storage of the same in their houses. Thus this time saving nature of the people sometimes lead to uncalled problems such as sudden shortage of the food grains due to negligence. Hence to lead a tension free healthy life it is very important for us to monitor the food storage level and maintain it. To maintain and monitor the food grain storage we are going to use the sensors.
Renesas GR peach board to be used as a central processing unit along with the different available sensors to create a Smart Home food & grains storage maintenance and monitoring system.

Project Abstract/Methodology/Approach

To maintain and monitor the food grain storage levels the sensors are connected inside the food grain storage mediums such as bottles, utensils, boxes etc. Usually home makers keep different utensils for storing different food grains by writing their name or using transparent glass based utensils. We are going to use this concept by connecting various sensors inside the utensils which are used for storing food grains. A threshold will be set. If the food storage goes below that threshold value then auto alert system should get activated. Owner or Home maker will be alerted with SMS and email alert. Renesas GR peach board will be used as a central processing unit by connecting the GR peach board with the different available sensors to create a Smart Home food & grains storage maintenance and monitoring system. We are going to monitor the moisture level, humidity and temperature level conditions inside the kitchen and storage area and keep track of the same. Alert will be triggered if unnecessary conditions are detected which can damage the food grains. GSM module will be interfaced with the GR Peach board for auto SMS alert triggering mechanism. As GR Peach is an advanced board, we are adding safety system as well into our design. We will use different safety sensors such as Fire detection sensor, LPG Gas Sensor, CO Sensor etc. These sensors will be interfaced with the GR Peach and we will create a Safety Alert system.

Project Conclusion

As we all know health is wealth, here we have attempted to design a system which can not only monitor the food storage system but also maintain it. The System design is made in such a way that it can be used as low cost safety alert system for food storage. The Design can be enhanced and used for big Food storage go-downs as well. We can program the expiry period as well and hence if the food stored even though has not got rotten but if it has surpassed its optimum expiry date then, it can be replaced with this proposed system.

Estimated Days (like 45) - Approximately 1.5 months or 40 days for full functional prototype to be ready.

List of Components/ Costs Used:
 

Now a day’s people are so much busy in their day today life that they do not have time to maintain the food storage facilities at home. Due to their busy life they shop for the food grains in bulk to be maintained and used for a period.
We are proposing a system to maintain and monitor food grains storage at home. The proposed system will have auto SMS and E mail alert system equipped to alert the owner regarding the storage level or if the food is on verge of decay or getting spoiled. We come across local food storage system in home based kitchens. Usually they are unscientific. Hence there is a chance for food grains getting damaged due to moisture, humidity, temperature and various other factors. Also people now days due to their busy life schedule have tendency to get the food grains stored for a specific period so that they can avoid shopping of the same more often with storage of the same in their houses. Thus this time saving nature of the people sometimes lead to uncalled problems such as sudden shortage of the food grains due to negligence. Hence to lead a tension free healthy life it is very important for us to monitor the food storage level and maintain it. To maintain and monitor the food grain storage we are going to use the sensors.

Renesas GR peach board to be used as a central processing unit along with the different available sensors to create a
Smart Home food & grains storage maintenance and monitoring system.

Approach towards the achieving smart Kitchen

To maintain and monitor the food grain storage levels the sensors are connected inside the food grain storage mediums such as bottles, utensils, boxes etc. Usually home makers keep different utensils for storing different food grains by writing their name or using transparent glass based utensils. We are going to use this concept by connecting various sensors inside the utensils which are used for storing food grains. A threshold will be set. If the food storage goes below that threshold value then auto alert system should get activated. Owner or Home maker will be alerted with SMS and email alert. Renesas GR peach board will be used as a central processing unit by connecting the GR peach board with the different available sensors to create a Smart Home food & grains storage maintenance and monitoring system. We are going to monitor the moisture level, humidity and temperature level conditions inside the kitchen and storage area and keep track of the same. Alert will be  riggered if unnecessary conditions are detected which can damage the food grains. GSM module will be interfaced with the GR Peach board for auto SMS alert triggering mechanism. As GR Peach is an advanced board, we are adding safety system as well into our design. We will use different safety sensors such as Fire
detection sensor, LPG Gas Sensor etc. These sensors will be interfaced with the GR Peach and we will create a Safety Alert system.

We have chosen three utensils, In which we are using LDR in utensil 1, IR based obstacle sensor in Utensil 2, and moisture sensor in Utensil 3. The Concept behind using these sensors is that LDR usually detects light, If we keep the LDR fixed at certain height in utensil 1, as grains will be kept inside the utensil, if the grains are above the threshold value then ldr will not get enough light hence its resistance will be quite high, similarly if the grains are below the threshold value inside the utensil then LDR will get sufficient light and hence its resistance will gradually decrease. Using this concept we have designed a Alert system such that when the light falls on LDR it means the grains are below the threshold otherwise it’s not.

The Idea behind using the IR sensor is, it detects the obstacle, hence if the IR sensor is place at a certain threshold height, then it will sense the obstacles presence. Here in Utensil 2 , if the Food grain Rices is above the IR sensor then it will detect it as an obstacle hence for us it means that the Rice is above the threshold level and vicevarsa.
Similarly the idea behind using the Moisture sensor is to detect the Liquid. The Sensor to be placed at a certain height, if the Sensor detects the moisture then it means the Liquid is above the threshold level else it should mean the Liquid is below the threshold level. Hence using these simple, Low cost sensors we can effectively design an Food Storage monitoring system.

As GR Peach is an advanced board, we added automatic light on-off feature and safety system as well into our design. GSM 900A module has been used to trigger alert SMS. LCD 16x 2 displays is also used. We shall explain the working of the project one by one functionalities below.

Automatic Kitchen Room light on –off using LDR and PIR Sensor:
As we know LDR detects light, and its resistance varies along with intensity of light. Similarly PIR sensor detects the human motion. We have done suitable coding for interfacing LDR and PIR Sensor to GR Peach so that whenever LDR detects low light then room light gets turned on and similarly if Human motion is detected by PIR then also on –off will take place which will help to reduce power wastage.

LCD Interfacing with GR Peach:

16x2 LCD was used to display some welcome messages as well as other important messages.

Fire and Smoke/LPG Gas detection:

The Alert system has been created by using fire/flame sensor and MQ6 Gas/Smoke detection sensors. Whenever these sensors detect smoke and fire, GR Peach will alert the people by triggering alert SMS and Buzzer.

Temperature and Humidity:

Temperature will be determine by using LM35 sensor and Humidity using HSM 20G sensors. GR Peach will keep track of the values. The temperature and Humidity values will be shown on the LCD display as well.

Food Storage Monitoring:

We have chosen three utensils, In which we are using LDR in utensil 1, IR based obstacle sensor in Utensil 2, and moisture sensor in Utensil 3. The Concept behind using these sensors is that LDR usually detects light, If we keep the LDR fixed at certain height in utensil 1, as grains will be kept inside the utensil, if the grains are above the threshold value then LDR will not get enough light hence its resistance will be quite high, similarly if the grains are below the threshold value inside the utensil then LDR will get sufficient light and hence its resistance will gradually decrease. Using this concept we have designed a Alert system such that when the light falls on LDR, ADC of the GR Peach will determine the voltage, and it will compare with the already set threshold values. If the value is below the threshold value, it means less light detected and hence grains are above threshold level. Similarly if the value is above the threshold then it means the grains are below the threshold as only when LDR is not covered by grains then only more light will be falling on the sensor.

The Idea behind using the IR sensor is, it detects the obstacle, and hence if the IR sensor is placed at a certain threshold height, then it will sense the obstacles presence. Here in Utensil 2 , if the Food grain Rice’s is above the IR sensor then it will detect it as an obstacle hence for us it means that the Rice is above the threshold level and similarly when the IR sensor is not detecting the obstacle(Rice) it means the rice is below the threshold level set by us thus GR peach will send an alert SMS.

Similarly the idea behind using the Moisture sensor is to detect the Liquid. The Sensor will be placed at a certain height, if the Sensor detects the moisture then it means the Liquid is present and it is above the threshold level else it should mean the Liquid is not detected and it is below the threshold level. GR peach will trigger the SMS by sending the commands to GSM 900A module. Hence using these simple, Low cost sensors we can effectively design an Food Storage monitoring system.

If we can monitor the storage of Food Grains using technology, we can avoid food wastage. With Smart Kitchen, we can monitor and maintain the safety as well. As GR Peach is an advanced Board, we can integrate this project with the Home Automation and monitor them.

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The Model has been implemented and the video of the working model has been uploaded on to the YouTube.
Implementation Snap shots:

Terminal Application Screenshots: These screenshots have been taken when the Model was demonstrated. GR
Peach was sending the messages to the PC via Terminal Applications.

(Omitted)

Alert SMS Screenshots

The SMS received to the mobile sent by GSM module which was triggered by the GR Peach.