Project/Diet Management
From Drexel Smart House
2008 Design Projects
Abstract:
The cell phone dietary monitoring system is intended to easily record the user’s food intake, and also provide information that is important to their diet plan. The device is designed to utilize a Bluetooth headset, which will be able to listen for the user to begin chewing. The headset will also be able to take in the name and portion size of a food. Finally, the device is able to output important nutritional information about the user’s diet, such as calories and vitamins. The device prompts the user to input their meal information after every major meal, based on when they finish chewing. The information is stored in the user’s cell phone. After the food information has been recorded, the information is sent to an online database, which is able to obtain average nutritional values for each type of food. The values are sent back to the user’s phone, where they are kept track of. The user has the ability to have specified totals read to them through the Bluetooth headset after every meal. The device allows the user to accurately keep track of the foods they eat, as well as give them an idea of how they can better follow their chosen diet plan. The technology does not detect drinks, and it may not always work correctly in loud environments. The technology operates under the assumption that the user records the foods and the serving sizes correctly. Two areas for future work on the project are the hardware needed to analyze the chewing, and the other area is the power consumption of the total device.
Team Members:
Academic Advisor: Dr. Marylin Huff marylin.cairncross.huff@drexel.edu
Final Design Report: Diet Management Final Design Report
2008 Design Projects
Project Title: Diet Management
- Team Leader: Andrew Cebulski Email: andrew.f.cebulski@drexel.edu
- Team Members: Email:
- 1. Andrew Cebulski - andrew.f.cebulski@drexel.edu
- 2. Dan Aichinger - daniel.e.aichinger@drexel.edu
- 3. Glenn Aller - glenn.t.aller@drexel.edu
- 4. Jonathan Hubler - jonathan.f.hubler@drexel.edu
- 5. Michael Heffner - michael.r.heffner@drexel.edu
Advisor: Dr. Marylin Huff
Description of Project:
Overall health is a major problem in the United States and around the world. Health is largely impacted by the things that one eats or does not eat. Although there are methods available to record dietary information, they fail to be sufficient, and thus need to be improved. Therefore, there is a need for an efficient and easy way to monitor and record an individual's dietary information, possibly automatically, in order for personalized nutritional guidelines to be developed. We are exploring three alternative solutions:
1.) A watch which a user would wear that uses sensors to detect when the user is eating. When the watch detects the user eating, it would alert the user, thus helping the user remember to record what they’re eating, and how much they’re eating.
2.) A breathalyzer that can track the user’s health (i.e. glucose levels).
3.) An RFID inventory system that would make recommendations on snacks and meals based on the current inventory of food within the house.
