MAJOR PROJECT BASED REPORT

(19ET8PWMPJ)
ON
“SMART RETAIL STORE”

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of degree of

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
IN
TELECOMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, BELAGAVI

SUBMITTED BY:
RAVI KASHYAP S N - 1BM18TE039
REVANTH ADIGA K R - 1BM18TE040
SIRI PARAMESHWAR - 1BM18TE047

Under the guidance of

Dr. Balachandra K

Assistant Professor, TE, BMSCE

Department of Telecommunication Engineering

(Accredited by NBA for SIX years under Tier – I format)

B.M.S. COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

 (Autonomous Institution under VTU, Belagavi, Accredited by NAAC with A++ Grade)

Department of Telecommunication Engineering

(Accredited by NBA for SIX years under Tier – I format)

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that this project entitled “SMART RETAIL STORE” is a bonafide
work carried out by RAVI KASHYAP S N (1BM18TE039), REVANTH ADIGA K R
(IBM18TE040) and SIRI PARAMESHWAR (1BM18TE047) in fulfillment for the
completion of MAJOR PROJECT (19ET8PWMPJ) during the academic year 2021-2022.
This project has been approved as it satisfies the academic requirement in respect of
project work prescribed for a Bachelor of Engineering degree.

SIGNATURE SIGNATURE SIGNATURE

Dr. Balachandra K Dr. N Srinivasa Rao Dr. S. Muralidhara

Guide Head of Department, TE Principal

Assistant Professor, TE BMSCE BMSCE

BMSCE

Examiners Name and Signature: Date:

1.

2.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We wish to express our gratitude & thanks to Dr. S Muralidhara, Principal, BMSCE, for
providing us the opportunity to work on any project that our engineering minds desired. We
are also grateful to all the teaching and non-teaching staff and to our friends who have
directly or indirectly helped towards our project.

We would also like to thank and express our gratitude to Dr. N Srinivasa Rao, HoD,
Department of ETE, BMSCE, for providing us with necessary support and flexibility to
work on the project desired.

Our sincere and deep thanks to our guide, Dr. Balachandra K, Professor, BMSCE for his
valuable time and suggestions. We are glorified to have his belief in us for the
implementation of a project of this magnitude. We are truly grateful for his continuous
support and motivation. We thank him for standing with us and helping us out in times of
troubles.

A vast amount of material has been obtained from online journals and numerous other
scholarly and voluminous sources. We in all conscience thank all those unseen faces for
their valuable contribution to our project.

Last but not the least, we thank our beloved parents on whose blessings we live and thrive.
It is their prayers that have helped us translate our efforts into fruitful achievement. We are
above board thankful to have them spiritually support us through our life.

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 ABSTRACT

‘Time is Money’. We all can agree time is very valuable. Everyone might have experienced
standing in a queue for billing at any retail store or supermarkets like Metro Cash and Carry,
Big Bazaar. Any alternative to this system would save a lot of time and surplus efforts at
the billing counter. During this post pandemic time, our method will also minimize human
intervention to a significant extent. The solution to the above problem proposed by us is a
simple yet effective one. The customer has to just scan a QR code, and the bill will be
reflected on his/her phone automatically.

The solution mentioned above can be implemented using a few Wi-Fi modules integrated
with a mobile application. The shopping cart will have four Wi-Fi modules at each corner
for better accuracy. These modules will act as receivers. Each product will have a different
Wi-Fi module attached to it which will act as transmitters. These modules are physically
very small in size; hence they are easy to install and modify. Once the items/products are
put into the shopping cart, they will be detected by the receiving Wi-Fi modules. Each
transmitter module can be configured according to the product they are attached to and their
respective prices. This data must be stored in a real-time temporary Database and then be
reflected in the mobile application. There will be a separate location called ‘billing zone’.
The billing zone has different modules which will detect the cart once it enters the zone.
When the customer enters the billing-zone , it gets detected and checks if the payment is
done, once done , the LEDs indicate payment complete and the process is complete.

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FIGURE DETAILS

CONTENTS PAGE NO.

Smart Cart block diagram 13

Wifi modules 13

User Appplication block diagram 14

Mobile application 14

Mobile App Screenshot 15

Firebase logo 16

Firebase real-time database console containing an order 17

Arduino IDE 17

ESP8266 Wifi module 18

Block diagram ESP8266 19

ESP01 Wifi module 20

Block diagram of ESP01 Wifi module 20

QR code containing drive link for user application (.apk file) 21

QR code containing unique cart id used for creating new order. 21

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Products with Wifi modules when placed inside the cart get detected by the 22
receivers.

LEDs and their states 22

Bluetooth Beacon 23

RFID 23

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENTS PAGE NO.

INTRODUCTION 8

LITERATURE SURVEY 19

AIM/SCOPE 12

METHODOLOGY 13

5.1 Designing a smart cart 13

5.2 Designing a user friendly app 14

5.3 Payzone 15

5.4 Softwares and Tools used 16

5.5 Hardware used 18

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 21

6.1 Observations 21

6.2 Problems Encountered 23

CONCLUSION 24

FUTURE SCOPE 24

APPENDIX A: GANTT CHART 26

APPENDIX B: POSTER 28

REFERENCES 29

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 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

The evolution of the Internet is being influenced by the rise of mobile communications. The
rapid emergence and evolution of smartphones has created a new generation of mobile
users. The worldwide brilliant installment market is relied upon to develop at a powerful
rate during the estimated time frame. The expanding reception of brilliant installment
innovation to limit human contact and make installments more secure is one of the key
variables adding to the market's development. The concept of the Internet of Things has
been around for a long time. It’s now becoming more visible in the stores as various business
solutions are being made available to address the increasing number of customers using
smartphones.

In our reality now, shopper assumptions in retail have soared. With the coming of quicker
conveyance, where customers can look for an item, actually look at the audits, and afterward
get it requested and conveyed in no time, shopping at an actual store can appear to be a
weighty errand. The consumers would rather prefer doing other work than going to a
physical store. All this can be mapped down to some basic reasons. With the fast changing
world, consumers increasingly expect that efficient and engaging online experience to be
replicated in-store. Buyers need raised client experience. Shrewd stores can assist customers
with addressing whatever their requirements are getting in and out of a store rapidly. While
offline stores still account for more than 80% of retail business, their online rivals are
growing at a rapid speed and gaining massive popularity through marketing and ease of
convenience playing a massive part. To Keep up with them the traditional stores have to
adopt digital technologies that will sustain the offline customers by optimizing the shopping
and payment experience.

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 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE SURVEY

1.Assessing the ESP8266 WiFi module for the Internet of Things: Conference Paper
CISTER-TR-181106 João Mesquita Diana Guimarães Carlos Pereira Frederico Santos
Luís Almeida Khawas, Chunnu & Shah, Pritam. (2018)

The ESP8266 module, a modern WiFi-enabled chip that is inexpensive and advertised as
ultra-low-power but whose performance for IoT applications is currently unknown, is
profiled in this paper. In order to establish area coverage, the built-in sleep modes are
investigated, and the effects of infrastructure parameters such as beacon interval and DTIM
period on energy consumption are measured, along with packet delivery ratio and received
signal strength as a function of distance and module antenna orientation. With seconds-scale
transmission intervals and 2-4 day recharge cycles on a 1000mAh battery, the ESP8266
module proved suitable for battery-powered Internet of Things applications.

2.Application of firebase in android app development-a study. international journal of

computer applications. 179. 49-53. 10.5120/ijca2018917200.

The web application is increasingly dependent on a sizable database and unstructured data,
including files, videos, photos, audio, text, and other arbitrary kinds. The unstructured data
is challenging for Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS). A relatively new
technology called Firebase can handle enormous amounts of unstructured data. In
comparison to RDBMS, it is really quick. This work focuses on the usage of Firebase with
Android and seeks to engage readers with its ideas, associated terminologies, benefits, and
drawbacks. The paper also attempts to illustrate certain Firebase functionalities by creating
an Android application.

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3.Study of Indoor exhibitions using BEACON’s Mobile Navigation Ding-Yu Liu; Cheng-
Yu Hsieh 16-18 Nov. 2018

The above paper discusses the indoor positioning system technology. When the Global
Positioning System (GPS) doesn't function or is imprecise, such as at airports, underground
places, parking lots, multi-story buildings, etc., indoor positioning system, or IPS, is a
technology used to find smart phones, people, or other things within a structure.
Implementing IPS does not have a set standard; rather, it may be tailored to the site selected.
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Beacons, magnetic location, dead reckoning, and other technologies are
used by IPS. Studies show that of the different technologies available, magnetic localization
is the most effective option for indoor location.The main goal of this paper is to develop a
mobile indoor navigation application for a store that enables customers to search for a
product and direct them to the specific aisle where the product is located. This makes it
possible for the application to be context- and location-aware. An API called IndoorAtlas
has been utilized, which assists in identifying smart phones within a building utilizing the
accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, and Bluetooth in a mobile, in order to gather
magnetic fingerprints and transform the received data into latitude and longitude values.The
idea behind magnetic localization is that a mobile device's magnetometer and other sensors
may be used to find a smartphone within a building by detecting magnetic field deflections
from the steel structures inside. The same application might be put to use in a variety of
settings, including supermarkets and hypermarkets, museums and art galleries, libraries,
hospitals, airports and train stations, shopping centers, exhibitions, and conferences.

4.Performance of Fingerprinting-Based Indoor Positioning with Measured and

Simulated RSSI Reference Maps

In order to locate people and items in huge buildings, a variety of indoor positioning
methods and systems have been developed. The widespread availability of existing
infrastructure has led to a rise in popularity for fingerprint-based Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
locating systems. Unfortunately, in order to create databases (RSSI maps) that serve as a
reference for the radio signal, fingerprinting-based systems need time-consuming radio
surveys. These evaluations must be carried out for every building separately.

Here, we look at the use of simulated RSSI maps with indoor localization methods that rely
on fingerprinting. We go through whether the two well-liked radio wave propagation
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models are appropriate for creating RSSI reference data: the multiwall and ray tracing, the
performance of RSSI distribution maps derived from simulations to maps obtained from
measurement campaigns based on an examination of numerous sample indoor settings has
been compared. The study made use of an experimental positioning system created by the
authors. The system uses fingerprinting, followed by a particle filter algorithm, to estimate
the user's current position from RSSI measurements and a reference spatial RSSI
distribution database for each Bluetooth beacon in the building, which is based on Bluetooth
Low Energy beacons and mobile devices (smartphones). The uniqueness of our contribution
is that we assess the positioning system's effectiveness using RSSI maps created from
measurements and the two most used indoor propagation techniques in three structurally
and dimensionally distinct settings. The three RSSI maps as well as how the fingerprint-
based positioning method is affected by them has been compared. The paper's first research
has significant ramifications for the design of indoor localization systems and may speed up
implementation by substituting computer simulations for reference measurements. Building
reference maps by hand takes a lot of time and effort, thus replacing it with computer
modeling might greatly improve the usability and adaptability of these maps in actual
interior spaces.

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 CHAPTER 3: AIM / SCOPE

Retail stores have not been updated for ages, and the idea of Online shopping is ending how
customers used to shop in offline stores. People are shifting to online shopping as they get
to save time and also avoid standing in long queues for the billing process. This has resulted
in the shutting down of many stores. Measures like reducing the crowding at bill counters,
providing updated products to ease the access of in-store shopping. Despite the advances,
there are still many shortcomings in Online ordering like turning out different products than
the one ordered. If a person buys anything in bulk then the time taken for billing is inevitably
more.Also in the current post- pandemic situation all over the world, everyone wants to
avoid large crowds. This can be done by making changes in certain details and making the
shopping experience efficient, less time consuming and providing customers a frictionless
payment experience. Our main idea is to make it easy for the customers to walk in and out
of the store without having to wait in long queues and make the shopping experience unique
and user friendly.

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 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY

Designing a smart cart:

Each cart is equipped with four ESP8266 wifi modules that pick up the signals when
products are placed inside the cart. Each products are attached with ESP01 wifi modules
which act as transmitters. The range of wifi - modules is limited only for the inside of the
cart so as to make sure the cart reads the product only when it is placed inside the cart.
Shopping cart consists of two QR codes, one is for installing mobile applications and the
other QR code lets the customer connect with the cart through a mobile app. The smart
cart also indicates the current status of the cart as the cart is occupied for
shopping,available for shopping or the bill has been paid up.

fig. Smart Cart - Block Diagram

fig. Wifi Modules

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Designing an User Friendly App:

The user application is built on the Kotlin programming language using Android Studio.
Making an app that helps in shopping. Kotlin is a statically typed programming language
which runs on JVM and is entirely interoperable with java . Kotlin is an officially
supported language for developing Android apps, along with java.

The app has a built-in QR code scanner using which the user has to scan the QR on the
cart. After scanning, the app gets connected to the firebase. Once the product is added
inside the cart, its information such as product id, its price and current total amount is
updated on the firebase and gets reflected on the mobile app.

fig. User Application - Block Diagram

fig: Mobile Application

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fig: Mobile app screenshot: Start shopping→ Scan QR → Creates new order → Items

added

Payzone:

For the bill payment, the customer has to enter the payment zone and only then will he be
shown the “Pay Now” option within the app. Once he enters the payzone , the wifi modules
placed in the payment zone communicate with the shopping cart, tallies the product and
provides payment option thus eliminating the need to stand in long queues , and making the
payment process and the overall shopping experience smoother and efficient.

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Softwares and Tools Used:

Firebase:

Backed by the means of Google, Firebase gives a suite of equipment required for
organizations to build effective apps while not having to worry about approximate control
of infrastructure. It is designed to support backend builders in any respect ranges of
development and helps in improving the fine of the overall app improvement exercise.

Firebase provides the user many features. Real-Time-Database is one of those features that
we have used for our project. As the name suggests, this works in real-time , so whenever
the customer keeps his/her product inside the smart-cart , the data gets reflected instantly in
a project we have created. The project can be created on the Firebase Real-time-database
console by uploading a JSON file. This file contains all the data necessary to monitor the
workflow of the project. Each project is different and has a unique Authentication Key and
a unique URL. The firebase server also has a unique ID called the Fingerprint. This
fingerprint must be uploaded to the Arduino IDE libraries to connect to the Firebase server.

fig. Firebase logo

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fig. Firebase real-time-database console containing an order

Arduino IDE:

Arduino IDE is an open-source software which helps the developer to write any code and
upload it to the board. It is a tool that allows the user to upload data/code to any board.

fig. Arduino IDE logo

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Hardware Used:

Node MCU/ESP 8266 WIFI Module:

fig. ESP8266 Module

● Microcontroller: Tensilica 32-bit RISC CPU Xtensa LX106

● Operating Voltage: 3.3V
● Input Voltage: 7-12V
● Digital I/O Pins (DIO): 16
● Analog Input Pins (ADC): 1
● UARTs: 1
● SPIs: 1
● I2Cs: 1
● Flash Memory: 4 MB
● SRAM: 64 KB
● Clock Speed: 80 MHz
● USB-TTL based on CP2102 is included onboard, Enabling Plug n Play
● PCB Antenna
● Small Sized module to fit smartly inside your IoT projects.

Four ESP8266 wifi modules are placed at the corners of our smart cart for better accuracy
in products’ recognition.The received signal strength level is set to -40dBm so as to make
sure that the receivers detect the product only when the product is placed inside the cart.

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Since ESP8266 has quite sufficient flash storage and SRAM, the programming and
configuration for the functioning of smart cart is done at the receiver end. The code is loaded
on all receiver modules and each module serves the purpose of detecting the product. When
the received signal strength from product Wifi modules exceeds the threshold signal
strength of all receiver modules, only then the product is considered and gets updated to the
Firebase.

fig. Block diagram of ESP8266

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ESP01 WIFI Module:

fig. Block diagram of ESP01 fig. ESP01 Module

● It is a low power 32-digit microcontroller unit.

● It uses TCP/IP for transmission.
● ESP-01 contains joint switch, balun, power speaker, LNA and matching association.
● It works on 802.11 b/g/n WiFi with a repeat of 2.4 GHz and WPA (Wi-Fi Protected
Access) or WPA2.
● It also includes 10 cycle ADC 2.0, (H) SPI, UART, I2C, I2S, IR remote control,
PWM and GPIO.Its stir and send packs is under 2ms. Its safe power use is < 1.0mW
(DTIM3).
● Its output power is +20 dBmin 802.11b mode.
● Its functioning temperature range is - 40C to 125C. This module is FCC, TELEC,
CE, WiFi Alliance, and SRRC ensured.

ESP01 wifi modules are attached on each product and act as transmitters.It is small and
compact in size compared to ESP8266. It has sufficient flash storage to store the product
name ,its price and the sku id of the product. The above mentioned product details are
rewritable hence it can be attached on all kinds of products.

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 CHAPTER 5 :Results and Discussions:

Observations:

A fairly low-cost Smart cart was designed and built. The cart is properly reading wifi
modules when placed within the configured range.The cart is connecting perfectly with the
mobile based app and updating details regularly. The payzone is also working fine sensing
when a person with a cart is passing the payment zone,the app will make payment option
valid when the person is in the payzone.The model is user friendly,less fussy and works
fine.

fig: QR code containing drive link for user application (.apk file)

fig: QR code containing unique cart id used for creating new order.

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fig: products with wifi modules when placed inside the cart get detected by the receivers.

fig. LEDs and their states

LED’s with colors RED and GREEN have been used.The functioning of LED is different
under different test cases,

1)When no LED is On:Cart is not connected to Internet.

2)When only Green LED is On:When cart is Connected to Internet

3)When only the RED LED is On:Shopping is in progress.

4)When BOTH LEDs are On: Shopping is done and payment is paid up

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Problems encountered:

● Beacons: They work on Bluetooth Technology. This technique works by calculating

the power difference between the transmitted and received signals to determine the
separation between the transmitter and receiver. It keeps on sending a single signal
repeatedly which the other devices can detect. But the major drawback of using
beacons is the cost. As at least three beacons are needed for accurate working , it
becomes very expensive when compared to wifi-modules.

fig. Bluetooth Beacon

● RFID : Radio Frequency ID can also be used for the same purpose but it is difficult
to set the range properly for accurate results. Received signal strength indicator may
impact the project workflow and thus poses a problem.

fig. RFID

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 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION

The suggested model of smart retail stores makes customers’ shopping smooth and efficient.
With the help of “smart carts” , users can enjoy shopping while having everything on their
smartphone. “smart cart” is very easy to use once you install the application and you can
constantly monitor your shopping progress just with a glance at your phone. The major
advantage of this model is that there is absolutely no need for the users to stand and wait in
line for the shop employee to bill their amount.The smart retail store can function ideally
during pandemic situation.The retail business also favor from this model by having less
number of employees and at the same time delivering consumer a wonderful shopping
experience which attracts more customers and thus improves their business.. However there
are some important things to look out for when implementing this idea, such as constantly
replacing wifi modules on the products and changing its data , battery management of the
wifi modules ,and establishing and maintaing seamless connection between the cart and
the server. The suggested approach can become more practical in upcoming years with the
availability of latest , powerful and efficient SOCs.

CHAPTER 7: FUTURE SCOPE

Similar technologies to ‘smart shopping’ are already in use in some of the Amazon stores
in the USA . In India , some stores like Decathlon make use of RFID for automatic billing.
However with the automatic billing system , queues are not avoided. Therefore we believe
if our model can be enhanced and made more efficient and scalable , it can take over the
shopping market very easily. Once it is scaled up we can make use of bluetooth devices to
replace WiFi modules as they can be more efficiently configured and are quick.

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APPENDIX A

GANTT CHART

25
26
APPENDIX B

POSTER

27
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 REFERENCES

● Alexander, A. S. G., Valdi, S., Albertus, F., Heri, N., Widodo, B., Herman, T.,
Muhammad, A. (2019) “Development of Smart Trolley System Based on Android
Smartphone Sensors” Jakarta: 4th International Conference on Computer Science
and Computational Intelligence 2019
● Altarteer, S., Vassilis, C., Harrison, D., and Chan, W. (2016) “Product
Customisation: Virtual Reality and New Opportunities for Luxury Brands Online
Trading” 21st International Conference on Web3D Technology, Anaheim,
California: ACM: 173-174.
● Aishwarya S.S. “Smart Supermarket Trolley System Using RFID” International
Journal of Trend in Research and Development (2018), pp. 529-531
● Daniel, W. (2020) “Cashierless Checkout: Everything you need to know
(PaymentsSource)".
● Farley A., Stevanus V. “Swarm Android Mobile Robot: Smart Trolley
Application” School of Computer Science, Universitas Bina Nusantara (2018).
Dept. of Ele 22 electrical & Electronics Engineering, PES University
● MarketWatch (2019) “Smart Shopping Carts Market 2019 – Global Industry
Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2019 - 2024".
● Study of Indoor Exhibitions using Beacons mobile navigation. Ding-Lu-YU.
● Rastogi S., Singh P.K., Agarwal V. “An Intelligent Sensing Follower Cart
(AUTOMATIC SHOPPING TROLLEY)” Journal of Controller and Converters
(2017)

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