This seems like an over-engineered solution to a non-problem. Formal stock control is only useful if you have serious issues (eg. theft, very large inventory, unidentifiable packages). The author could solve his problem by simply keeping ketchup in the kitchen like sane people.
So in summary there is a barcode scanner, a Raspberry Pi and a screen. Where's the label printer? Not quoted: still more cost! It would have been far cheaper and more practical to install a new shelf.
Hey, you're right. But since I'm a CS student who likes to try out and learn stuff, over engineering is not a bad thing for me.
For a little home, we have an unnecessarily large inventory and it is really comfortable to just look it up on the smartphone than take the staircase to the basement and search through the stock :D
It's not just ketchup btw ;)
I'm still searching for an over engineered use case for my new label printer...
The printing with this system is simply done with a Wifi printer nearly anyone (at least here in Germany) has at home.
You can simply print a list of all the stock and if you want even a simple groceries list of which items are empty ;)
We installed a new shelf but once this one is full, you still got the problem. I mean, you could add even more, but at one point the room is full and you're back where you started :D
I disagree that this is a non-problem. In our household, we store ingredients that we need rarely under our bed. Weird chinese noodles, some exotic spice that I've never heard of but is only sold in huge packages in Turkish stores, red Quinoa that's very hip these days... you get the picture. It's easy to loose track of everything you have.
That said, it has never annoyed me enough to build and maintain a personal storage system like OP did.
I agree with this.
I am using a dead simple todo list to keep track of these things : www.mytinytodo.net
It is more than enough for me, I am really happy of it.
So in summary there is a barcode scanner, a Raspberry Pi and a screen. Where's the label printer? Not quoted: still more cost! It would have been far cheaper and more practical to install a new shelf.