Fablab_Inventory_App

Description

Our project aims to give both students and FabLab staff a more convenient way of tracking the availability and whereabouts of tools. This process would normally involve a student having to visit the lab in person to check if a tool is available, and for staff to be present to retrieve the tool(s) from storage and oversee the signing-out of the tool(s).

The app and smart cabinet system eliminates both these redundancies. At a glance, a student using the app is able to check on the loan status of all the tools and make an informed decision before going to the fablab. They can then unlock the smart cabinet via the app and retrieve the tools by themselves. Sensors in the cabinet will send data to update the availability of the tools, which is reflected in the app.

FabLab staff will be using admin accounts that have access to the features offered to the students along with additional privileges:

Access to History logs which displays student IDs and loan duration

Able to adjust sensor calibration in the app itself, in the event a compartment needs to be recalibrated for a new tool.

Both students and staff can use the Poke function to prompt borrowers to return the tools if they have been holding on to them for too long.

(For this project, we used a Raspberry Pi and Firebase for data collection and processing.)

Poster