Project Information
Project launch date: October 2017
Latest Revision: IoT Bag Manager V1.0 (initial prototype release)
Related links: GitHub Repository
Description
The IoT bag organizer helps to prevent students from forgetting to take their things to school. All items have RFID tags (radio-frequency identification) and when scanned over the device, it ticks that item off the list. And if the student had forgotten to take something, they will know by checking the app.
Details
I made this device for my G10 Personal Project as part of the IB MYP program. This project involved not only making this device, but everything from research to publication which makes this project one of the most detailed recorded projects. However, at the end, the hard work was very rewarding.
As you can see, the outer casing was 3D printed. It was designed using Fusion 360 to house the ESP32 board and the LED lights. I decided to power the device with an external mobile battery. This keeps things simple as the device is only used when packing the bag.
To connect the ESP32 board via wifi to my phone, I used an IoT platform called Blynk. This platform made it really simple to integrate an app feature into this project. The arduino code contains a list of items with a TRUE or FALSE boolean variable. Whenever the RFID tag is sensed by the scanner, the program changes the boolean variable to the opposite value. The list is then updated to Blynk which will change the status in the app.
Using Blynk to make an app for my device was relatively easy and fun. The platform has many more features that I would like to try out in the future. As for the device, I would call it a successful prototype. Of course, there are many aspects that could be improved; however, the device proves the original concept and this was my intention for this project.