DIGILENT DESIGN CONTEST • DIGILENT DESIGN CONTEST • DIGILENT DESIGN CONTEST • DIGILENT DESIGN CONTEST
FIGURE 6. The self-checkout feature.
shopping process simple, we made use of
an existing voice module. Since the FPGA
is connected to the voice control unit by
the Pmod interface, users can play or stop
playback themselves. The voice module
provides information on discount or
promotional products for the particular
store. In the future, all the information
can be updated or modified via the
wireless module. The voice module will be
able to prompt users regarding the total
price of the items they’re purchasing.
Self-checkout
The self-checkout feature combines
with the RFID tag technology, the supermarket scanner to
read the product identification information, the LCD digital
display, and the wireless communications functions. RFID is
the basis for achieving self-checkout; RFID’s also used as
an electronic key, so it can start or lock the cart. In the
future, supermarkets could have customers set up
accounts with relevant personal information. Then,
customers can choose to associate this information with
with a credit card or prepaid funds they can access in a
unique identity account.
Users would simply scan codes of items they want
before the supermarket scanner. Information about the
items, like the name and price will display on the LCD
screen. Users would then choose to confirm or cancel the
data before it’s sent to the server by the wireless
communication module. If they confirm the data, the
system will automatically record and store the appropriate
information to the FPGA memory cell through the wireless
transceiver module (Zigbee or others). The server can then
record the final purchase list and deduct the amount from
the RFID related account.
Conclusion
Sources
Smart shopping cart video link:
http://v.youku.com/v_show/
id_XMzAxNTAzNTk2.html
FPGA development board related references:
www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?
NavPath= 2,400,789&Prod=NEXYS2
A smart shopping cart can achieve self-checkout
functions and also pioneer a new shopping model of
having a cart automatically follow a user. In order to
improve the practicality and security of an intelligent cart,
the system must integrate the use of RFID radio frequency
tags, multi-sensor obstacle detection technologies, and
FPGA as its control unit. This system makes full use of the
abundant FPGA hardware resources, such as re-programming, IP multiplexing, and rich I/O interfaces, and
also reserves enough hardware resources for future
expansion. SV
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