Functional+Requirements


 * Functional requirements**

//Hardware requirements//

The outside wall of the refrigerator will be composed of aluminum alloy products and the inside wall of the refrigerator and its compartments will be composed of plastic; both materials are made for durability.

The fridge door will be made out of an electrochromic glass that can change from transparent to translucent at a press of a button, allowing users to see through the inside of the fridge. Electrochromic glass is ideal for insulation. The interface of the touch screen menu will be embedded into the fridge door, providing a sleek and functional feature to the electrochromic glass door.

The fridge door handle has a dual function: aside from opening and closing the refrigerator, it is a detachable wireless barcode scanner gun. For this reason, barcodes that are obscurely placed on a product will be easy to scan. When an item is scanned, the scanner gun has an in and out button that indicates if an item is being scanned to go in or out of the fridge.

//Software requirements//

The refrigerator will have custom software for its following special uses:

The door handle/detachable barcode scanner will scan products that will then download on the screen with a corresponding image, product name, and other details available. For other unscannable items, such as produce and leftovers, the software must allow manual input by the user to key in its name, expiration date, and other details.

In order to accumulate a database of products in the refrigerator, the software must have the ability to draw a predictable grocery list for the user of its available and non-available items in the refrigerator. With the use of expiration dates attached to certain products (inputted manually on the touch screen), users will be alerted of food that is expiring.

The software must serve a reminder for the user to buy groceries, at which time the user can give permission to order groceries online to be picked up at the store or delivered at home. The software will need a web service support to access a grocery checkout with a participating grocery store. Its API will allow commands to buy the complete grocery list or specific items only.

The software must assume that a great amount of data will need storage in the refrigerator. The software must have a strong privacy protection for online grocery payment.

//Data and information requirements//

It is imperative that the refrigerator will have a database of barcodes and its corresponding products. It will need Wi-Fi to access upgrades or database updates. For other information, the user is able to manually input details on products such as best before dates or storage instructions. The system response must have the ability to scan barcodes accurately to upload the correct corresponding data and at a rapid rate to avoid time consumption for the user.

//Interface requirements//

The touch screen interface will be embedded on the electrochromic glass door, outside of the fridge. Touch screen eliminates the need for extra devices such as a mouse, keyboard, or stylus. The direct interaction with the interface is ideal for simplifying the multiple menus and complex applications that the software will have to provide, allowing an intuitive interaction for the user. In terms of a physical environment, having a touch screen interface avoids kitchen disasters such as spills that can cause operational interference with the device.