BestBy Buddy

The Project

My app allows users to keep track of food they buy and scan food items to learn more about its shelf life and storage tips. The application uses machine learning models to identify food items within photos that the user uploads, then it displays information about how long the food will last and gives suggestions for how to prolong shelf life. The users can choose to add the scanned food item to a built-in inventory, and it will automatically calculate the estimated expiration date. The inventory helps users keep track of the food items that they scan in, and users have the option to manually input items. My app will sort the user’s inventory from quickest to expire to slowest to expire. This allows users to easily identify which items will expire soon. An additional feature of the app is that users can analyze bananas. The built-in machine learning model identifies which parts of the banana are fresh or rotten. The app can also classify meat based on its freshness. My app would help to alleviate the food waste problem by allowing users to keep track of their food inventory, and it provides users with proper storage methods.

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Team Comments

The issue of food waste inspired me to create this app. I noticed that I always forgot what food I had bought, and I didn’t know whether it was still safe to eat or not. I wanted a way to keep track of all the foods I bought so that we could eat them before they expired, so I created this app.

It was hard to gather data for the AI models, so I focused on identifying basic foods like apples. It was difficult to ensure accurate shelf life information. Another challenge was storing user data using Google Firebase and organizing it into Firestore Database collections.

I would train the AI models to use more data to classify more foods by using web scraping. I would also add push notifications to alert users when their food is expiring soon. I also want to add a donation feature for users to donate foods they cannot consume in time.