DeCart

Description

DeCart is an attachment to a shopping cart that uses social pressure to make the shopping a more productive, connected experience for society as a whole.

deCart

List of Materials

Although the entire premise of the project is simple, the implementation, however, is not and requires a lot of patience and system building.

  1. LCD Display. For us, we used Sparkfun’s Basic 16×2 Character LCD – White on Black 5V. See  https://www.sparkfun.com/products/709.
  2. 11 x LED lights. One to indicate selfishness (we used red), the other ten to indicate progress bar (we used yellow; colors are up to your discretion).
  3. Speaker circuitry and any 8-ohm speaker. Specifically, this breakout board https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11125 and amplifierhttps://www.sparkfun.com/products/11125.
  4. Bluetooth Modem – BlueSMIRF module from Sparkfun – https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12582.
  5. Materials needed to construct the box. In our case, we used simple wood.
  6. Arduino Mega 2560.
  7. 1x Piezo drum sensor.

Step by Step of our Build Process (Hardware)

Step 1: Familiarize yourself with the Circuitry!

Test each individual circuit and get a handle of the connections. For example, try turning on the LCD display, controlling the progress bar, flashing the selfish light, etc.

Step 2: Construct the Design!

See the roughDesign.DXF file. For us, we made our product by laser cutting wood.

Step 3: The Interface Components

Hot glue all the components that have slits for them! Example: the LCD display, speaker, and the LED lights. Make sure that they fit snugly in and they don’t protrude outwards.

Step 4: Wire them!

Each LED light needs to be connected in series to a 200 ohm resistor and not to mention that all their grounds need to be shared. For the LCD display and speaker, I would recommend using a protoboard. For me, I created a makeshift shield for the Arduino Mega, soldered on the speaker circuitry, and had all wires eventually lead into this board.

 

Read More:  DeCart

 


About The Author

Ibrar Ayyub

I am an experienced technical writer with a Master's degree in computer science from BZU Multan University. I have written for various industries, mainly home automation and engineering. My writing style is clear and simple, and I am skilled in using infographics and diagrams. I am a great researcher and am able to present information in a well-organized and logical manner.

Follow Us:
LinkedinTwitter
Scroll to Top