CMU Postal Services.. but better -- Post Malautomated

Created on 17 Oct 2018

A fast, efficient, low-cost alternative to mainstream mailroom solutions.

Students often go to CMU postal services and try to pick up packages that either don’t exist or haven’t been processed by the service yet. This leads to massive confusion with people having to repeat their SMC numbers, leading to huge lines during rush hours. The employees also have to deal with the tedious task of validating the SMC number with the recipient’s name. In addition, they have to manually sort the packages and place them in specific locations based on their size. When the user comes to pick up their package, employees must then go find these packages in their various locations. What if there was a way to reduce all this hassle? That is where CMUPSbb comes in. CMUPSbb is an AI-assisted system that uses state-of-the-art technologies. All the employees have to do is first take a picture of the packing label at a scanning station and place the package either in the current bin that they are working on or in an alphanumeric location for larger packages. They don’t need to sort out where the packages would go as CMUPSbb automatically tracks where the packages are being placed. When a student arrives to receive their package, they sign into an online queue and the employees will know the quantity and the precise location of the packages. Their search will be aided by lighting up LEDs next to the box where the packages were placed.

@ngandhi

Neel Gandhi

@rkjain

Rishabh Jain

@vrajmoha

Vignesh Rajmohan

@jacheng

Jasmine Cheng

@rjwallac

Renee Wallace

Part Cost Quantity Total
HP 22" Monitor with HDMI and VGA $100.00 1 $100.00
Monitor for scanning hub which serves both in package scanning and queue visualization
Raspberry Pi 3 B+ $40.00 1 $40.00
Raspberry Pi B+ - Central computing part of the system
Power Cable for Raspberry Pi $7.50 2 $15.00
Power cable for the Raspberry Pi - only need two as we already have one
Raspberry Pi Zero W with Headers $14.00 2 $28.00
Raspberry Pi Zero's used to control LED's on the Package Bin
Raspberry Pi Camera Module $30.00 1 $30.00
Camera module used in the scanning station
Neopixel LED Strip - 2m $25.00 2 $50.00
LED Strip for Marking the Postage Bins
Project Totals: 9 $263.00
Track 1 Base Budget: $250.00
Preferred Vendor Budget Bonus: $50.00
Remaining Budget: $37.00