The Implementation of IoT Based Smart Refrigerator System

摘要

Wasted food due to spoilage is a critical resource issue. Food waste or food loss is food that is discarded or lost uneaten. Currently, in the world, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), consumers waste about 1.3 billion tons of food annually and consumers in rich countries waste about 222 million tons of food products. Once food products are purchased and set aside in a refrigerator, the users do not alert about their food items' expiration date and/or freshness unless they individually examine and track them. Moreover, for food products which are not labeled with an explicit expiration date may lead to significant food spoilage and additional expenditure for the users. However, with the latest trend technology of the Internet of Things (IoT), this problem can be resolved. Combining the idea of Internet of Things and smart kitchen evolution, the smart refrigerator system is developed. The system consists of three main parts which are sensing module, control module and transmission module. Sensing module consists of load cell and odour sensor while control module consists of Arduino UNO and power supply unit and last but not least, the transmission module consists of LCD module and Wi-Fi module. These modules work together to determine contents status inside the refrigerator and notify the user about the condition and quantity of the food via an SMS or an email.