Smart Shelf for Smart Kitchen

This paper presents a conceptual design and operation of the sensor based Smart Shelf that is capable of measuring the availability of different types of grocery items and alert the User when the grocery item has reached a predefined threshold level as well as trigger a replenishing order to a predefined grocery store with the User approval or preauthorized list. The Smart Shelf consists of two different sections each leveraging two sensing mechanisms; weight sensing and level sensing. Level sensing section consists of fixed size container having RFID tag defining container size with product description, RFID tag reader, and an Ultrasonic or laser level sensor for measuring the levels of the content in the containers from the top of see through cap. The weight sensing section consists of RFID tags with similar container specification and content identification, RFID tag reader, and weight sensor measuring all contents on that shelf. The embedded sensors measure the level or the weight of the items which is updated to the database whenever the items are placed or taken out. The design comprises of several algorithms; 1) algorithm measuring the availability of a grocery item in a container using the level sensor, 2) algorithm measuring the availability of grocery item in a container using the weight sensor and 3) inventory management algorithm managing the inventory of products inside the Smart Shelf. This design will simplify the responsibility of grocery management, which further can lead to more sophisticated kitchen utility applications. It might be incorporated as a stand-alone operating module in Smart home or Smart Kitchen.