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EE 522 class develops Smart Shopper
June, 2003
 | | EE 522 students at Smart Shopper display in Bldg 20 |
Every spring the EE 522 ? Embedded systems class is tasked to design a complete embedded system. This year?s project - ?Smart Shopper? is a hand-held device designed to help aid grocery store shoppers. The shopper can enter a list of items they wish to buy, and the device reads from a memory cartridge containing store information, from which it can then display a map of where the items are located and even suggest an optimal path through the store.
Students were involved in every aspect of the design. Professor Kaliski explained, ?The students are broken into groups with individual areas of responsibility, concerned with all aspects of the project: hardware, firmware, algorithm development, power, testing, intellectual property, user-interface, packaging, costs, standards compliance, marketing and simulation.? A ?student manager? group oversaw the progression of the project. Both a model of a hand held device and simulation software for the Palm Pilot and PC were created to show how the end system would work. Existing patents were researched, and the design was altered in order to avoid potential infringement. In addition to using the Smart Shopper for groceries, it was also suggested that the device could potentially be used in such diverse applications as a doctor doing rounds, or planning routes in an amusement park.
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