Sustainabite

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Inspiration

The inspiration for the Sustainabite app came from a human-centered design approach to the global food waste problem. Despite 2.5 billion tons of food being wasted annually, the real motivation came from a key human paradox: people want to reduce waste but lack the tools to do so effectively. My research revealed that forgetfulness and over-purchasing were the primary causes. This led to a design philosophy focused on providing practical, data-driven features, such as intelligent grocery tracking, real-time expiration alerts, and an AI-driven recipe generator, to address the core reasons for food waste directly.

What it does

Sustainabite is a mobile application designed to help people manage their household groceries and combat food waste. The app provides an all-in-one solution for smart grocery management. Its core features include an intelligent grocery tracker for a digital inventory, real-time expiration alerts to prevent spoilage, and an AI-driven recipe generator that suggests meals based on what you already have. By streamlining these functions, Sustainabite offers a comprehensive and practical solution that saves users money and helps them make a positive environmental impact.

How we built it

To build the barcode scanner, I used a Raspberry Pi and a camera module. The process involves three main steps. First, I set up the Raspberry Pi to capture images and detect barcodes using Python libraries like OpenCV and pyzbar. Next, I integrated a script to connect to a public database, Open Food Facts, which retrieves product names and categories using the scanned barcode number. Finally, I created a local SQLite database to store the product's name, category, and an estimated expiration date, all automatically populated from the scan. The final application combines these components into a single script that allows you to hold an item up to the camera and have it automatically logged into the inventory.

Challenges we ran into

Due to several technical issues, including a failed SSH connection, an inability to ping raspberrypi.local, and an unrecognized boot/ssh file path, the Raspberry Pi could not be properly set up, preventing the camera from being configured.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I finally got the Pi to connect to my monitor!

What we learned

If you try to connect a Raspberry Pi to monitor that is already running an Os, it will prioritize that OS over the Raspberry Pi.

What's next for Sustainabite

Sustainabite will enhance the user experience with new features. The plan is to implement real-time notifications that alert users when food items are about to expire. To further automate tracking, the app will integrate with mobile grocery shopping apps like Instacart, so items purchased online are automatically added to the inventory. The system will also get a physical upgrade with a hardware trigger, such as a button or switch, which will allow users to initiate a scan manually. Finally, Sustainabite aims to integrate with popular voice assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant, so users can check their pantry inventory with a simple voice command.

Built With

• bolt.new
• canva
• openfoodfacts.org
• raspberry-pi