MOOODULI

In this project, we are required to design a small product which applies the concepts from two EPD core courses. Based on this, we made a creative trolley using op-amp circuits, sliding mechanism and a lot of 3D printing that can keep your food in proper temperature during shopping.

Problem Statement

A problem that is commonly faced when people visit supermarkets which is that the hot food (be it from the supermarkets or from other stores that are packaged) gets cold and cold foods (such as ice cream) melt by the time they reach back home. Furthermore, another problem that consumers of supermarkets face is that it is not feasible to use the supermarket trolleys to carry their purchased food products back home as the trolley is too huge for easy movement in public areas. As such, market-goers who do not drive may often find it exhausting to carry all their food products in plastic bags as they make their way back home.

Design Overviews

The smart trolley that we are designing is made using a modified trolley structure with 3 separate insulated compartments to contain the hot, cold and room-temperature food respectively. Additionally, the compartments can either be arranged in a horizontal conformation, for use while in the supermarket and in a vertical conformation for use when they are heading back home. This versatility in the arrangement of the compartments allows the users to carry their food products around more easily while maintaining the temperature of the hot and cold foods that they have purchased.

Design Concepts

- Separated Compartments

Compared to the traditional trolley in the supermarket which only has one huge volume compartment, the body of our trolley consists of 3 separate compartments with heat insulation padding. Each of them can be used as a normal basket.

- Temperature Control

The cold and hot food compartments are equipped with TEC cooler and TEG heater respectively. They autonomously regulate the temperature within each compartment by maintaining a temperature threshold

- Shopping Mode and Carrying Mode

Obviously, it is very hard to bring the stuff back using a trolley which looks like the current one. So we designed a foldable bottom for the trolley. While the consumer is browsing and purchasing the items, the consumer can extend the base for all the three compartments to be arranged horizontally. While the consumer is transporting the items back by hand, he can close the extended base and stack all the compartments vertically.

- Custom Design Considerations

Considering different user heights, we designed additional hand grips of different length to help them use the trolley better.