IOT Based Smart Vending Machine

Vending machine is essentially an automated machine that dispenses items like drinks, snacks, foods and so forth. The vending machine can assist shopkeepers with reducing their expenses by paying a less rental charge with 24 hours working time each day thereby maximizing their profit margin. A custo

Project Title

IOT Based Smart Vending Machine

Project Area of Specialization

Internet of Things

Project Summary

Vending machine is essentially an automated machine that dispenses items like drinks, snacks, foods and so forth. The vending machine can assist shopkeepers with reducing their expenses by paying a less rental charge with 24 hours working time each day thereby maximizing their profit margin. A customer can buy product easily with the help of scanning QR code, paying cash through the vending machine. Vending machines can be installed anywhere such as bus station, office, residential area, building, etc. People can buy any kind of goods whenever they want. The basic idea of using vending machine is to provide products such as foods, beverages and so on instantly when the consumer needs and pay without being assisted by anyone within a near distance. Also it provides 24 hours’ service that ensures product availability specially at night. Moreover, people can purchase product in a secure manner that allows to buy private products like sanitary napkins and others. With the availability of vending machines in offices, public restrooms and other places, one can now save more time and effort in buying what they need from a store. As it is a digital platform in a vending machine the product quality, product consumption rate and transactions can be monitored.     

An IoT based Smart Vending machines offer many more things to consumers, using such machines, landlords can easily collect rents. suppliers can have real time stock statistics, service team can have access to their records and schedules and so on. As these machines are connected with IoT network, they are called smart vending machines. Using such smart vending machines, consumers can buy clothes, gifts, plants, luxury cars and so on. IOT based such machines help retailers sell their products around the clock and offer greater convenience to consumers. In this system, machines are connected with IOT gateway which interfaces with internet cloud either through WIFI or through cellular interface. The user can access the vending machine directly using its display or using mobile app or web app. If user uses mobile or web app, it asks to enter machine code which will get validated through API. Transactions can be carried out using wallet payments, credit or debit cards or top up payments. The mobile app or web app will have many features such as vending machine operator registration, addition/deletion of machines and so on.

Project Objectives

• A real-time vending machine with a cost effective solution based on open innovation technology is designed.
• Wi-Fi and GPRS are introduced inside the vending machine with the goal that the information about the stock level can be stored in a database which can help make informed decision or refilling the machine with new stocks.
• Enable cashless payments via smartphone and NFC
• Save money with online monitoring and diagnostics
• Gain better visibility into the quality of dispensing mechanisms
• Monitor temperature for machines that serve hot or cold beverages

Project Implementation Method

The project implementation consist of number of stages:

1. Collection of Needs

The client and the developer jointly define identify requirements and the system created. In this stage extensive research are made to study the available machines in the market. A number of visits will be made to local and other cities vending machines to collect the optimal requirements for the system.

2. Identify the platform and Hardware modules

The working system will required the number of sensors controllers and actuators. The major hardware modules for the project will be required are:

The DH21 sensor will detect the temperature and humidity. The ESP-32 microcontroller for controlling.

The Rasberry pi3 with camera will be used as web server and data mining techniques implementation,

      3. Build a prototype

Building prototypes by making temporary designs that focus on serving customers, for example, such as making input and output formats.

        4.Evaluation of the prototype

This stage is carried out by the client, whether the prototype is built, according to customer wants and needs. If it is not suitable, the prototype will be revised by repeating steps.

The project implementation consist of number of stages:

1. Collection of Needs

The client and the developer jointly define identify requirements and the system created. In this stage extensive research are made to study the available machines in the market. A number of visits will be made to local and other cities vending machines to collect the optimal requirements for the system.

2. Identify the platform and Hardware modules

The working system will required the number of sensors controllers and actuators. The major hardware modules for the project will be required are:

The DH21 sensor will detect the temperature and humidity. The ESP-32 microcontroller for controlling.

The Rasberry pi3 with camera will be used as web server and data mining techniques implementation,

      3. Build a prototype

Building prototypes by making temporary designs that focus on serving customers, for example, such as making input and output formats.

        4.Evaluation of the prototype

This stage is carried out by the client, whether the prototype is built, according to customer wants and needs. If it is not suitable, the prototype will be revised by repeating steps.

Benefits of the Project

Following are the benefits of Smart Vending Machine:

• It offers real time usage reporting to vendors which helps them to keep sufficient items in the machine by monitoring inventory all the time.
• The consumers will avail hassle-free services from machines 24x7 and vendors also benefit around the clock.
• It creates job opportunities in many segments. Companies will need software and hardware engineers to develop such machines. Vending operators need staff to fill the items in the machines using various transportation mediums. Vending operators also require staff to manage the entire IoT based system from centralised location. It creates opportunities for application developers and banking staff.
• It benefits retail industry, medical, entertainment & hospitality, credit/debit card banks, electronic component manufacturers, vending machine manufacturers, transportation segments and so on.
• Expenses can be tracked automatically using mobile app or web app from cloud based web reporting.
  It eliminates many drawbacks of old vending machines accepting coins.
• It lowers downtime of IOT vending machines by taking proactive action to fix issues at appropriate time. All the information of functioning and non functioning machines are available. Alerts & notifications are generated whenever machine malfunctions

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

We have considered high level scenario (SCN) amongst the key different components and users.

 SCN-1 Customers will be connected to the Internet in their smartphones provided by the Mobile Network.

 SCN-2 Each vending machine has a unique QR code (Quick Response code) printed to its body, containing a specific URL connected to a web-based system that gives a virtual representation name Virtual Vending Machine to the customer. In this way, the client can see the list of products of that particular vending machine and select the items to purchase them.

 SCN-3 A mobile application has been developed to interact with the Virtual Vending Machine, which needs to be installed in the customer's smartphone. It comes up with the advantage of enabling greater security in payment from the user's wallet and provides a comfortable user experience to the customer to interact with the machine.

 SCN-4 An IoT Gateway is installed inside the physical vending device and connected through the Internet. This built-in electronic board is designed and assembled with Arduino compatible modules with low costs. After completing a successful payment, the machine gets the request to dispense the item in the locker.

 SCN-5 Digital Payment Service receives the customer payment that has been paid through the app in a fully contactless way .

SCN-6 The payment goes to the Merchant Account legitimately after deducting a particular percentage as a commission that the vending machine operator agreed to receive from the merchant.

In this system we can use easypaisa for payment system.

How it works:

? Scan the QR code printed on the vending machine.

? choose the product and pay through a digital payment account.

? Collect the purchased item Software Prototype

QR Code Scanning the UI for the client where they need to tap the "Scan QR Code' button to scan the imprinted QR code on the vending machine body.

The client will navigate to the item list screen if the scan is successfully done.

Choose Product and Payment by Digital Payment System, the lists of the products available with the price and picture of the vending machine's products. Customers can pick up to 5 items maximum to purchase at one go. The selected items will be shown up in the cart below the screen, along with the total price of picked items. Customers can discard anything from the cart as they need. When a user can continue by tapping the arrow icon in the right corner of the cart, it will navigate the customer to the checkout screen, where the client will see the list of the products he has picked.

Customers can even now discard any item from the list subject to their tendency. These features are giving a decent user experience in terms of purchasing items from the vending machine. By tapping the "Buy with easyPaisa" button down, the customer will continue to make the payment through the easyPaisa payment system. Ensuing to pick things customers need to pay by easyPaisa by utilizing their easyPaisa credentials.

Final Deliverable of the Project

HW/SW integrated system

Core Industry

IT

Other Industries

Core Technology

Internet of Things (IoT)

Other Technologies

Sustainable Development Goals

Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Required Resources

If you need this project, please contact me on contact@adikhanofficial.com