Proposal for Smart Cart

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1 September 28, 2015 Dr. Andrew Rawicz School of Engineering Science Simon Fraser University Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6 Re: ENSC 440 Project Proposal for Tesigo: Smart cart Dear Dr. Rawicz: The attached document, Proposal for Tesigo: Smart shopping cart, exhibits the outline of FOYO Technology Inc. s project for ENSC 440 (Capstone Engineering Science Project). Our objective is to design, implement and program a smart shopping cart which is able to follow shoppers and be controlled by the shoppers via mobile application during their shopping experiences. The propose of this proposal is to demonstrate an overview of Tesigo, risks and benefits, market and competition, research rationale, budget and funding and schedule. This document also provides team organization and company profile. FOYO Technology Inc. was founded by five innovative, creative, analytic and motivated engineering students: Worawee Janpongsri, Mengyao Li, Zheng Chang, Yizhang Xu and Jose Arboleda. If you have any questions or concerns about our proposal, please feel free to contact me by phone at (778) or by at wjanpong@sfu.ca. Sincerely, Worawee Janpongsri Worawee Janpongsri, CEO FOYO Technology Inc. Enclosure: Proposal for Tesigo: Smart cart i

2 Proposal for a Smart Cart Project Team: Contact Person: Worawee (Fai) Janpongsri Mengyao (Lily) Li Yizhang (Michael) Xu Zheng (Matt) Chang Jose Arboleda Worawee (Fai) Janpongsri wjanpong@sfu.ca (778) Submitted to: Dr. Andrew Rawicz (ENSC 440) Steve Whitmore (ENSC 305) School of Engineering Science Simon Fraser University Submission Date: September 28, 2015 Version: 1.2 ii

3 Executive Summary Carrying heavy load comes with a risk for back pain and more. It is found that lifting and carrying weighty objects can lead to mental and physical sickness. Many shoppers end up carrying really heavy load for many hours. During their long shopping experiences with a bunch of plastic grocery bags or a heavy basket, shoppers feel like the load are cutting off their circulation. As the result, they suffer back pain and are not able to straighten their arms and lift them properly. Their finger tips are completely numb which can lead to nerve damage. Furthermore, disabled people are unable to carry shopping bags, baskets or ordinary shopping cart, so they go through many problems and difficulties during their shopping time. Therefore, it is time to introduce a smart device which can help shoppers and disabled people to have a wonderful and comfortable shopping experience. FOYO Technology Inc. is passionate about introducing a smart shopping cart called Tesigo. Not only Tesigo can help shoppers reducing their carried load but also can automatically follow shoppers via sensors and be controlled using mobile application. Tesigo can be operated in four different modes. The most basic mode is manual mode, Tesigo acts as the ordinary shopping cart. Assist mode is when the dynamic system is on but tracking system is off. Following mode is when the sensors of Tesigo are on to detect and follow the targeted shopper. The last mode is remote mode which shoppers can control Tesigo to be in motion through mobile application. FOYO Technology Inc. consists of five third to fifth year engineering students in computer, biomedical and electronic fields. Our designing of hardware as well as software in different concentration in engineering studies will bring this project to completion. We propose this project cycle including research, design, implement and test to be completed in thirteen weeks. The estimated budget for this project is $ iii

4 Contents 1.0 Introduction System Overview Risks and Benefits Risk Benefits Market and Competition Market Competition Cost and Funding Cost Funding Research Rationale Company Profile Team Organization Conclusion Reference iv

5 List of Figures Proposal for Smart Cart Figure 1 : System Block Diagram... 3 Figure 2 : Milestone Chart... 9 Figure 3 : Gantt Chart... 9 v

6 1.0 Introduction Did you ever meet the situation that you cannot find a shopping cart when you go into a shopping mall? Did you ever meet the situation that someone s shopping cart plug up the whole aisle? Do you want have a smart shopping cart that can release your hand and give everyone a better shopping environment? FOYO Technology Inc. designs and manufactures an automated and multi-purpose cart, which can assist customers carrying goods. The design is based on normal shopping cart that we used in shopping mall. We design to use four wheels cart, which contain two transmission wheels and two assistant wheels. We will also install distance sensors and camera for navigation. Our product can be customizable for different applications. Based on the different purposes, we can adjust the size, the maximum power, and the shape of the cart. For example, our original purpose is designed for shopping mall. Our product also can apply to library, hospital, airport, and etc. Our aim is to sell the best performance and smartest cart to the market. FOYO Technology Inc. focuses on developing a safe, stable and intelligent cart. We believe the reliable functions of the cart will be the reason why market chooses us. This proposal provides an overview of our products. The content will include system overview, risk and benefits, proposed design solution, sources of information, budget and funding, schedule, team organization and the company profile. 1

7 2.0 System Overview Figure 1 shows the basic functions of Tesigo: Smart Cart Tesigo has four operating modes: Follow The cart follows the user automatically with its dynamic and tracking systems. Assist The cart turns off the tracking system and assist user to use its dynamic system. Manual The power of the cart is off, and user uses the cart manually. Remote The tracking system of the cart is off, and user uses an android application to control the cart. Our system includes four major parts: tracking system, dynamic system, microprocessor and user interface system. With the tracking system, the shopping cart can follow the specific target. Microprocessor receives information about the distance between the cart and the target to control the cart s movement. The dynamic system allows the cart to be powered by the motors. Finally, the user interface system allows users to control the cart with mobile application. 2

8 Figure 1 : System Block Diagram 3

9 3.0 Risks and Benefits 3.1 Risk There are few risks about our product. Our product is used in the shopping mall so the components might break down since they are non-water resistance. To overcome this problem, we must think of a way to protect the electronic components properly. Since our product is designed to be user friendly, our company recommends the cart to be used with care. 3.2 Benefits Our product has many benefits which can improve the way when people shop in the shopping mall. For the disabled, the shopping carts can follow them automatically with the follow mode. Even when there are any obstacles, under the remote mode they can use the application on their mobile phone to control the cart. With the benefit of the follow mode, the cart also provides some convenience to people who shop with their baby. Tesigo s assist mode will be beneficial for people who buy the heavy objects. Our cart is also designed to relief the physical effort which includes the lifting, pushing and pulling. It is easier to move the cart with heavy objects inside. Generally, our cart provides many benefits to the shoppers. 4

10 4.0 Market and Competition 4.1 Market Based on our research, there is no corresponding product on the market. All shopping malls are using the ordinary shopping cart. We interviewed the manager of T&T supermarket at Metrotown; he showed a great interest in Tesigo. He said he would consider in purchasing them if Tesigo could let their customers get a better shopping experience. He also mentioned that we would need to consider about the manufacturing cost. If Tesigo was very expensive, he preferred to use the ordinary cart [1]. In addition, Tesigo can also be used in library, airport and etc. We do not want to target only elder people and people with disability, but also the ordinary people. 4.2 Competition Tesigo is mainly used in shopping mall. Therefore, we consider our main competition to be with other ordinary shopping carts, which do not have any technology features. The biggest difference between Tesigo and current competition is Tesigo can follow its user (shopper) automatically, so there is no need to push the cart. 5.0 Cost and Funding 5.1 Cost The table below shows the speculated cost of building a Tesigo. Due to the taxes and shipping costs, the overall cost can be overestimated by 15 percent. Product Amount Cost (CAD) Raspberry Pi 1 60 Xbox360 Kinect Sensor Motor Cart Frame 1 60 Battery Sensor 5 80 Glass Fuse 4 20 Fuse Holder Cap 1 5 Wires & others 1 20 Total Table 1: Project Budget Breakdown [2] 5

11 5.2 Funding Proposal for Smart Cart The primary source of our project is being provided by our group members. We will share equally for all expenses of the project 6.0 Research Rationale After finishing some market researches, we believe Tesigo can be applied in many areas besides shopping malls. For example, we can apply Tesigo in the library, hospital, and airport. The most challenging work for us is to balance the cost and quality. In order to be competitive, we need to save the cost, but meanwhile, we cannot sacrifice the quality. Since now we are designing, so we use Raspberry Pi and Kinect Sensor. These hardware have strong functionality and many APIs we can find online. If Tesigo gets an investment, and needs to be manufactured through assembly lines. We will design our own Micro- Computer and Micro-Controller, and we will use other cheap camera instead of Kinect Sensor, We also plan to manufacture or wholesale the other kits. After this improvement, we believe that the total manufacturing cost of a Tesigo will be less than 100 dollars. Since Tesigo will work in a complicated environment, the upgrade about safety will be the main reason that increases the cost. But we believe our reasonable price and high quality will have the market. 6

12 7.0 Company Profile Worawee (Fai) Janpongsri Chief Executive Officer (CEO) I am a third year computer engineering student at Simon Fraser University with previous co-op term experience at Thomson Reuters. During my work term, I implemented the NuGet Package which built by CruiseControl.Net. I have learned and gained strong programming knowledge in C, C# and C++,.Net Build tools in NAnt and MsBuild and database in MySQL. Moreover, I am familiar with HTML, JavaScript, JQuery, CSS, Python, Java, assembly language, Node.js, and VHDL. I also have undertaken selfprojects using.net framework. Mengyao (Lily) Li - Vice President of Operations (VPO) I am a fourth year biomedical engineering student at Simon Fraser University, and had four months co-op experience at SAE Magnetics Limited. During my coop term, I programmed and debugged equipment and machines. I have learned and gained programming knowledge in C++, Python and PLC. Moreover, I am familiar with operations of electronic equipment in the lab such as oscilloscope, power supply, function generator and digital multi-meters. Yizhang (Michael) Xu Vice President of Marketing (VPM) As a fifth year computing engineering student, I have four months research co-op experience in Simon Fraser University. I learned several computer languages, which include C++, Java and Python. I have experience about how to use Raspberry Pi and Arduino. I also have experience about image processing. I hope my knowledge can help the team to build our product. I have faith that our team can handle this challenging works. Jose Arboleda - Chief Technology Officer (CTO) I am a third year computer engineering student who has gained extensive experience in programming. I have advanced object-oriented programming skills, mainly with C++, also in Swift for app development and in HTML and CSS for web designing. In addition, I am familiar with networking applications such as VPNs, web servers, FTP servers and TCP/IP protocol. 7

13 Zheng (Matt) Chang Chief Financial Officer (CFO) I am a fourth year electronic engineering student at Simon Fraser University with previously co-op term at Blackberry. As a senior student, I am experienced in circuit design, digital and analog system, communication network and feedback control system. During 4 month co-op at Blackberry, I have gained more experience in designing, constructing and testing circuit. In the meantime, I also have learned several skills of hardware modification and troubleshooting. 8.0 Team Organization Five skillful engineers who are currently between the third and fifth year of engineering undergrad program compose FOYO TECHNOLOGY INC., each of them has different areas of expertise and interest which bring to the company an interesting and useful diversity. This will allow a better development of the project and thanks to that each member will contribute with her/his specific expertise in the different modules of the project. The responsibilities and different fields of operation in this corporation have been delegated in different position which take into account the strengths and weaknesses of each member; Worawee (Fai) Janpongsri, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), is responsible for solving conflicts with the team organization and is in charge of leading and guiding the progress of the project. Yizhang (Michael) Xu, Vice President of Marketing (VPM), is responsible of the aspect of the project as a market product and also is in charge of the research of possible target markets. Zheng (Matt) Chang, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), is responsible for financial planning and budget management. Mengyao (Lily) Li, Vice President of Operations (VPO), is in charge of solving technical issues that might appear during the process and coordinate operations. Jose Arboleda, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), is in charge of research and development of the project and technical support. In order to keep efficiency and efficacy during the project, the company has decided to have at least one formal meeting per week. This allows all members to have a clear view of the overall progress of the project and also identify possible future issues that could cause a change in the design or/and requirements of the project. The priority of these meetings will be the update of the actual situation of the project and its different modules. The members also use the meeting to discuss possible solutions of different problems that might arise during the developing phase. 8

Due to the different technical fields that the project carries, we have decided to divide the tasks in different modules in where the members will be assigned according to their fields of expertise

These modules will allow us to create a fair distribution of different tasks and will permit each task to develop independently with the other until the integration phase.

14 Due to the different technical fields that the project carries, we have decided to divide the tasks in different modules in where the members will be assigned according to their fields of expertise and level of interests. This will allow each member to focus in a specific part of the project and have a better use of the time. These modules will allow us to create a fair distribution of different tasks and will permit each task to develop independently with the other until the integration phase. Therefore if one of the modules is done before the others, the members of this module will be able to help in the progress of other modules. Each module will have at least two members working in it which allows the members to have an easier team communication and a better time management that will easy the charge and allow more time for other responsibilities. Schedule: Figure 2 : Milestone Chart Figure 3 : Gantt Chart 9

15 9.0 Conclusion Proposal for Smart Cart Today we live in technological era where the technology provides us more comfortable and convenient lifestyles. Everything seems to be accessible with the help of technology across almost all sectors. Technology has become an important role in not only reducing work load but also helping disabled people to live easier in the society. The major problem for many people including disabled people is to carry heavy goods and products during their shopping time. FOYO Technology Inc. introduces Tesigo with the high technology that the shoppers can choose their preferences in using our smart shopping cart in different modes. Disabled people can definitely use following mode and remote mode whereas other shoppers can use all the four modes. We really hope that our Tesigo will provide a better, easier and wonderful shopping experience to the shoppers. Our Gantt and milestone charts in the schedule are also realistic according to our intelligent members skills. Not only our hardware and software skills but also our professional experiences will ultimately bring our project into completion on time. We also demonstrate the budget for this project which will result in useful, helpful and hightechnological product in society. 10

16 10.0 Reference [1] Bob Xu. (2015, Sep. 16). "Re: Smart Following Cart". Available [2] Leeselectronic.com, 'Lee's Electronic Components - Lee's Electronic', [Online]. Available: [Accessed: 28- Sep- 2015]. 11

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