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A Barcode Driven Kitchen and Grocery List?
Crazy Brian asks: "I have envisioned, for some time now, having a 3Com Audrey with a barcode scanner in my kitchen, where I can scan in items as I put them away, then scan them again as I use them. Barcode information would be stored on my MySQL server, and an inventory would be updated. I could then generate a shopping list, or link it to a database of recipes, to find out what I can have for dinner tonight. The closest thing I have found is the ShopWizard from Symbol, which only runs under Windows. Is there anything out there for Linux? I hope it can use the upcdatabase to find unknown barcodes. Is there any group interest in creating something like this, assuming nothing already exists?" Icepick's Trashbin is a simple application built on this concept, but wouldn't knowing exactly what is in your cabinets and having a ready-made grocery list be a useful feature for any kitchen?
The appliance that automagically keeps track of your groceries, makes lists of what's needed from the store, even goes and gets them from the store while you are at work - already exists.
It's called a wife.
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer
well, something.
but you don't seem to realize that it actually is a lot of extra hassle to scan things when you put them in and when you take them out, also you can't know if the juice is almost empty or whatever.
so unless you're running a biiiig kitchen at some facility it doesn't make that much sense, actually.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
As title. I'm the MAN!! w00t!
the kitchen?
I have thought about this system myself as well. You can get cards for many PDAs that will scan barcodes, so that way you can "cross" things off at the supermarket(though I would expect some strange looks). Hell, if you like writing code, you could even have the software plan out your shopping, have it locate the aisles everything is in and tell you where to go.
Monstar L
People have been talking about this since the Apple II. The problem is, that given that:
1) The small size of most home kitchens means that it's relatively easy to keep track of that list in your head. I can tell you without looking that I have pinto beans and lemon juice, but need to buy butter.
2) Home kitchen inventories don't need to be managed as tightly as a Wal-Mart. Unless you're insanely well-organized, there is no cost of capital or opportunity cost to keeping non-perishables around a little longer until you need them.
So the trouble of maintaining a kitchen database, checking every can in and out, makes it more work than just keeping a well-stocked kitchen and buying special items (rack of lamb, sassafras root) when you need them.
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Yeah, right.
How would the scanner know whether something was being added to inverntory or removed from inventory?
Know for the idea. You are using Linux and MySQL. Why not write an open source app that can do this? Write an import filter that will import all the recipes off of (say) epicurious.com. You could even leave it so you could add more recipe sites at a later date.
Why would I want the hassle of having to scan items in and out of my frig like a damn library when I can easily see if I'm out of milk or not? This is the craziest idea I've ever heard. It'd be something else if the frig was automatically scanning its contents and then you could log into it to see. So if I'm out and about and can't remember if I have butter then I could check remotely. But manually scanning the items is not very convenient.
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Even if technology were to that point, I don't think Slashdot users should be asked about biological engineering... :)
Goo goo g'joob.
This is a recipe for eating only prepackaged foods produced by the Agribusiness industry. Maybe you should just skip all the trouble and take food pills.
I try to purchase food that does NOT have standardized corporate barcodes on it. My local butcher allows me to select cuts from a display case, he weighs it and puts a pricetag on it. I put vegetables in a plastic bag, and they get weighed at the checkout. I can buy pasta in bulk. I cook it myself from recipies I've developed, instead of reading the instructions on a label.
Dude, your wife dosent read slashdot, does she?
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
is there anyone with a fucking brain left reading and / or running this site? the things that pass for stories these days are fucking lunacy. open source + anything = coverage. who in the nine hells is going to set up a goddamn database driven supply chain tracking application for a fucking home kitchen? you're all fucking mad i tell you.
Just some information if you start implementing....
= basic&action=search&str=barcode
Most USB barcode scanners just function as a usb keyboard. This means the application just has to have a text entry field. The barcode scanner will behave just as if it were somebody typing the barcode at a keyboard and pressing return afterwards.
There are actually a lot of programs that do barcode scanning for your home on the mac. Not groceries -- most are for books, CDs and DVDs. See: http://www.versiontracker.com/php/search.php?mode
http://www.cedarnet.org/smartware/Hardware/PantryP od/
It even uses a :CueCat!
i have a tcl\tk inventory application that could easily be used as suggested. contact me at jjshoe@gmail.com if your intrested.
-- botsex is {grep;touch;strip;unzip;head;mount}
Is this something that perhaps could be integrated into MythTV?
As it stands, I'd love to have something like that. My family room and kitchen are together in the same area of the house. It'd be trivial for me to walk over to the TV when I run out of something and scan it (with my CueCat) so that it can be added to a grocery list before I toss out the empty container.
In the future, an RFID scanner placed in my recycling box could do this trick automatically.
A quick click of the remote could then print the list, or even better access it from work via MythWeb. Perhaps even having a menu of additional items to add (for produce or cold cuts, for example) before finishing the list, the whole thing could be managed fairly easily.
Anybody game to program that?
You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The impossible just takes a little longer.
but wouldn't knowing exactly what is in your cabinets and having a ready-made grocery list be a useful feature for any kitchen?
No.
I think, therefore I am an Atheist.
This is something my friend is very interesed in.
:(
It's quite hard for a blind person to tell eg "Catfood" vs "baked beans" or "Chicken noodles" vs "Extra-hot Thai noodles". The plan was that his wife would scan each product as she puts them away and record a short audio description. Verne can then scan cans and packets while she's at work and sort out a non-spicy, non-catfood lunch for himself.
I wrote a script for this, but then the computer had an accident so I'm going to have to write it all over again
455fe10422ca29c4933f95052b792ab2
This is sortof like the fridge that keeps track of its contents but would be a lot more convenient. It could be used by small shops to track their stock also - maybe a personal and business edition of the software would be cool.
Patented???
Pixels keep you awake!
Try creating an inventory tracking system, PERIOD. Lots of stuff you use has barcodes. You could scan things "in" and "out" to try to keep track of stuff. So you scan it in when you take it out of your bag from the store, and scan it "out" when you open the package or use somethin' up, or maybe loan it someone.
Of course, it lacks wifi, so you'd have to probably code an app that queues up the operations (scan-in, then out, then in again should be collapsed to one scan-in)
Unfortunately, you're probably better off maintaining your own database of info for each product. This isn't such a big deal, cuz you're going to want to attach your own notes and stuff to each item.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
Nothing beats a cuecat for cheap barcode scanners. PS2 and USB are available, and no stupid driver funkiness.
Also consider a scanner tasked only to scan receipts. I've been considering something myself, perhaps a small business card scanner would work. As you're putting away the groceries, stick the receipt in there, and a custom script files, OCRs, whatevers it. Maybe also noting the day and time. It could automatically pop up a warning on day 8 that "If the half gallon of milk isn't finished today, it may be time to finish it off or toss it." or somesuch. Or even auto-generate the grocery list as it decides the items are gone, or spoiled.
And as much as I hate RFID, you gotta admit, for at least this one application, it would be cool.
Quick! Everyone run to the patent office and steal his idea!
I have often thought of this too. Except in my version it combines a recipe database, an inventory database, and a barcode database.
Besides the obvious maintenance of a database of items in your cupboard, it maintains a database of all items in your house. For those of us who have home-owners/renters insurance, this database is invaluable when it comes to loss replacement claims.
But the number one reason I want to get this implemented is that often my wife and I have no idea what to fix for dinner, even though we have a pantry full of choices. I have also seen once or twice when fresh items go bad (like potatoes, or apples) because they were behind something else.
The system I envision ties in recipes with the food inventory so that I can simply say "show me what I can fix for dinner", and it would go through the database of items on hand, and suggest recipes containing those items. They would be catagorized of course so that I could say something like "I'm in the mood for italian tonight, show me what italian dishes I can fix." and the system would oblige me.
With the inventory system, it can also tell me that I have items that need to be used sooner rather than later, and suggest items to fix containing the goods that are about to expire.
Of course right now, my wife makes up a 'two-week menu' and we shop according to what is needed on that menu, but we generally have plenty of staple items on hand. This system would allow us to reduce the number of times we buy cream-of-mushroom soup. (we must have about 20 of those cans in the cupboard now.) It would also allow us to buy "only what we need" when we go.
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Is it me, or is MythTV becoming the new Emacs? It's like a Swiss Army knife with all the crap being shoehorned into it :)
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Oddly enough, when I was in college I noticed that I purchased the same things every week. So when I went to the store once, I wrote down the aisle numbers and put everything in a spreadsheet. Sort, print, compare it to what I had in the cupboard (not much, poor college student), and I had a quick, optimized shopping list.
If I could keep the batteries charged in my PDA, I'd be tempted to inventory things that I don't buy very often, like spices. Nobody needs 5 cans of chili spice because they couldn't remember if they had any, and bought more just to be sure.
It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. -- Harry Truman
would benefit the most, as you never know if today is the day for Pasta or Macaroni, let the machine decide!
Ok, while I can see your point, for the average "bachelor slashbot's kitchen", I can think of some places where this would be a "good thing". For example, the Mormons puts a strong value on keeping at least a year's worth of groceries in their pantry, at all times. For those of you who don't know what that would look like, consider a 10x10 room, full of groceries. There are others, who have large families (at one point, I was part of a household of 10, where we cooked double and triple batches of everything, to feed the thundering herd). Additionally, if someone shops at costco, Sams, or some other warehouse dealie, they're going to be buying things in bulk, so it may not be obvious whether they've used up all 10 cans of black olives they bought, back in May.
So you're a single loser, in your mother's basement, and you don't see a need... doesn't mean there isn't a need, that others could find useful.
I myself can think of cases where it would be VERY useful to simply hit a web page on the server at home, be able to see what ingredients we have, and when they were shelved (gee, the milk got shelved 3 weeks ago, bet it's a science project now!) and know what I need to pick up on the way home, to make dinner, for the unexpected guests I found out about at 2 pm.
The F/OSS movement is about scratching itches, and at least one thing that we do here on slashdot is talk about itches... Here's someone who's talking about his itch, that may not be relevant to you. Doesn't mean it's not a valid itch. There are enough folks who've responded positively to this subject to see that there are people who find this idea potentially interesting/useful... So for you to dismiss it out of hand as "F*cking Mad" indicates that you may well be out of step, rather than vice versa.
-- All That's Evil in the Geek Space
As others have pointed out, it seems more trouble than its worth and would be quicker to just write a list by hand. What would be kinda cool though if someone knocked up something the guy was asking for and managed to interface it with one of the many online grocery services, scan the items, click a button and the computer goes and restocks your kitchen for you.
And if we're at the top of the evolutionary chain, that matters why?
Personally I don't buy into macroevolution - a dog doesn't become anything other than a dog - but people are free to believe whatever they want.
But Herr Heisenberg, how does the electron know when I'm looking?
The inventory will quickly be useless.
while(eggs != done) { fry(&eggs) }
It relies on you to glance at the "pantry" list and confirm that you really do have the items listed. I know it's not nearly as cool as scanning barcodes, or tracking what size containers things come in, or tracking how much you use based on the recipes you use, but in my mind, it's the only system that makes sense for a real kitchen -- one where food appears and disappears all the time in ways no computer or system can hope to account for.
HTH HAND YHBT.
If you need all this to establish a check list that you can read from your work place, I have another idea: install webcams in your fridge (with light) and in other critical places of your kitchen. It will have an other side-feature: you'll be able to track roasts and blast them if you add other gadgets.
If you're going to the trouble of the barcode scanner and databases of on-hands and recipes, you might as well go all the way and put a web interface on it. Community-driven meal planning: Let the /.ers create your shopping lists and menus.
"Oh, jeez, pizza and beer again."
truly del.icio.us
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I have an old Radio Shack CAT scanner that I pick up for free ;-)
Never got around to hacking it.
http://www.fsf.org/
Another way to save money. Get a Community Hero Card!
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Well, if you have tabby kittens, you could try scanning them to tell them apart...
I actually started working on this, but the php is so terrible, I'd be scared for anyone else to see it (especially you evil slashdotters). Regardless, I know I could use something like this in my kitchen. I used a bar code reader called a Flic, which has memory built in. I'd scan all the items as I put them away, then plug the Flic into the computer (which had already been set to the input screen), and dump the text into the text box. Hit submit, and the barcodes would increment the inventory. Then, perform the same routine on a different screen for things that go in the trash.
BUT, the problem I found was the initial product database. I realized how much work it was to input all these things the first time. I tried that upcdatabase.com once, but it was SORELY lacking data. I got busy with other things and never got back to working on it. If you find anything...please post it here.
nt