The Community Food Box IoT Project Report (Senior Design)

Abstract

The Food Box IoT Project is an embedded system designed to assist the non-profit organization, Community Food Box Project (CFBP). CFBP provides 24/7 emergency food access through repurposed newspaper boxes in Indianapolis and Southern Indiana. As the number of served communities grows and the demand for food resources rises, there is a crucial need for a centralized virtual process to manage each food box. CFBP desires to remotely collect data from food boxes and provide users with up-to-date information about each box. Currently, the process is done by individuals conducting visual inspections of each food box and filling them as needed. Food box management is decentralized and lacks predictive data. CFBP provides a website with limited and static food box information. The Food Box IoT Project consists of a hybrid application linked to a microcontroller-sensor system. The software application features an interactive map or list view displaying food box details and locations, with native GPS navigation to each. Users interact by leaving feedback and reporting food boxes as empty. Secure admin accounts grant CFBP special permissions to manage system data. CFBP’s admin accounts can view user feedback, manipulate food box details, and add or delete food boxes. The hardware system uses sensor data collected by a microcontroller to update whether a specific food box is empty or not. The hardware and software systems are connected through an SQL database hosted by a web server. The hardware and software independently exchange data with the database. This architecture supports the deployment of two hardware system prototypes without impacting the functionality of the software system-wide.