Screws Loose's upgrade to legacy fridges

Leonardo's Screws Loose team outline their product to upgrade and update fridges as part of their Apprentice Automation Challenge entry for 2022.

The Problem

Our product is an add on to existing fridges that turn them “smart”. This will be a much more affordable method for users to gain the benefits of smart technology and incorporate it into their home. The “smart” features our product will add include produce logging, nutritional information about the produce and sell by date tracking. These will automate the process of tracking what produce you have, what you need to get and how much you have consumed. People who have specific dietary requirements and/or individuals who are fitness conscious can benefit greatly from this. Furthermore, by reminding users of what they have in their fridge and when each product goes out of date this should reduce food wastage increasing sustainability.

The Concept

Our Smart Fridge service strives to provide customers with all of the regular capabilities of a fridge, with added benefits to enhance their experience. By combining an everyday fridge with a user interface, customers are able to log the food they purchase; the interface will then provide them with nutritional information such as calorie count, and subsequently suggest meals based on this to ensure a balance of nutrition. The fridge will also be given the ability to remind and alert customers of use-by dates of specific items, assisting them with the prevention of food and money wastage. Additionally, users will be prompted via the interface if the contents of their fridge are running low, so they can rest assured that they will not open the door to an empty fridge. The aim of our service is to give customers the freedom to control their fridge in whichever way works for them, reducing waste and saving money as a result.