1. Final Project idea

This week I worked on defining my framework for the final project idea and start a rough sketch of it. Beside, I start use to new technique of documentation and managing my project.

Main Idea

The primary idea that I focused on was Fab-city and how it will change the way that we would live in our cities. Moreover, I tried to make a hypothetical scenario where we live in this situation. So, I narrow down my vision toward the way that we will purchasing food.

In my vision, buildings in the city has some type of agricultural products which needed to be marketed. Also since these products produced by people they have to have the liberty to sell it themselves.

In the current, the farms are outside the city and supermarkets are the mediator that gathering and bringing the products to the city. But this model has a lot of waist, and huge carbon foot print. The food waist starts from harvesting and is continued in the transportation. So products might go bad during packaging.

The other problem with this system is the amount of unnecessary transportation which happening to get the products to supermarket and after for the citizens to get their groceries.

My project is vending machine, which act as a market. It can collect the food products of the neighborhood and sell it to other people in the area. This system acts in a network of machines around the city which can be optimize for essential items to minimize the travel form producers and customers.

Cyber-Market

Fig-1 : Placing my project in the current context of market.
Fig-2 : Food production in fabric of the city, which merge the boundaries between provider and consumers.
Fig-3 : The future of the market in context of Fabcity.
Fig-4 : The network of supermarkets.
Fig-5 : The network of the Vending machines.

Plan and schedule

In order to achieve this objective I want to divide the project into two segment.

In the first phase I will build the bottom part of the vending machine.

For the first prototype of this part, it will be 2 button for user interaction, a screen for displaying the product for purchasing and an actuation which moving a motor.

In the next step the actuation will be upgraded to a cable robot which can grab the objects. Alternatively, a CNC system can be used for this matter.

The further upgrade will be a capacitive touch sensor for user to interact with the display. This could be advance by adding a Kinect to detect the gestures of the user

Next step is adding a camera to capture the input items from farmers. The openCV library for python could be applied for object detection.

Relating the assignment to final project

Assignment Idea Alt idea
Potential Final Project Future supermarket/Foodmarket
Git Websit Personal websit published in git Cloud computing with Django
CAD Design the final prototype and render it. OpenModelica structure simulation
CAM Minimal Surface LaserCut the Strips and join them make an growable active bended component cover a sell with it
Electronic Production Custom PCM to read data from sensors and send it to the raspberry pi a virtual router for tour node
CNC CNC the Bottom part of the vending machine structure 3d scanne a trunk and cnc with robot a joinery system Make a cube with plywood then cnc it from different side a chair based on its 3D force diagram
Electronic Design Custom PCM to control the stepper motor a virtual router for tour node
Molding and casting Casting the camera and sensor holder Iphone case
Composites front panel for vending machine which will carry the capasitive sensor Iphone case Shell with carbon fiber and resin
Embedded Programming Gesture detection for capasitive sensor Bject detection with camera Web request to the online platfrom for the data
3d scanne and printing Scanning the fruits and vegetables for detection trunk
Sensor Capsitive sensor/ Camera/ Kinect2/ nfc
Interface AR interface for vending machine Display of the vending machine
Machine design The Cartesian system for acessing object in the vending machine
Wild Card scan and CNC the trunk of wood with robotic arm