This document proposes a digital nutritional scale integrated with a smartphone application for calorie tracking and weight monitoring. The scale would measure the weight and calories of food, sending that data wirelessly to the app. The app would track calorie intake from food and exercise, and use that information to calculate and display the user's current weight in real-time. Additional proposed features for the app include a graphical analyzer to summarize weight trends over time, and a BMI calculator. The goal is to simplify calorie tracking and increase the accuracy of calorie measurements to help users better monitor their weight and health.
This document proposes a digital nutritional scale integrated with a smartphone application for calorie tracking and weight monitoring. The scale would measure the weight and calories of food, sending that data wirelessly to the app. The app would track calorie intake from food and exercise, and use that information to calculate and display the user's current weight in real-time. Additional proposed features for the app include a graphical analyzer to summarize weight trends over time, and a BMI calculator. The goal is to simplify calorie tracking and increase the accuracy of calorie measurements to help users better monitor their weight and health.
This document proposes a digital nutritional scale integrated with a smartphone application for calorie tracking and weight monitoring. The scale would measure the weight and calories of food, sending that data wirelessly to the app. The app would track calorie intake from food and exercise, and use that information to calculate and display the user's current weight in real-time. Additional proposed features for the app include a graphical analyzer to summarize weight trends over time, and a BMI calculator. The goal is to simplify calorie tracking and increase the accuracy of calorie measurements to help users better monitor their weight and health.
Digital Nutritional Scale with GSM Module Integrated for
Calorie Tracking Smartphone Application
A Final Year Project Proposal Presented to the Faculty of the Electronics Engineering Department Of Xavier University - Ateneo de agayan !n Partial Fulfillment Of the "e#uirements for the Degree of $achelor of %cience in Electronics Engineering $y Elijah-Dan A& %e'allos (ary Fi'eth alunia Apple )race $uhisan *ianne Dorothae +an Octo'er ,-. /-,0 CHAPTE ! Introduction 1ealth is one of the most important factors in human life& Ac#uiring a'normal 2eight such as under2eight. over2eight and o'ese could 'e alarming& (aintaining ourselves healthy is a very difficult part especially those 2ho have passion in eating& +here are a lot of factors that causes a'normal 2eight. one of those is the calorie im'alance& 3eeping ourselves healthy also needs regular e4ercise and proper diet in 2hich 2eight monitoring is necessary& 5eight and health 'ecome the common drive for this research study& Over2eight people are to develop health pro'lems such as heart disease and stro6e& +his is 2hy people get conscious of their 2eight& O'esity is not just a cosmetic pro'lem it7s a health ha8ard. someone 2ho is 9-: over2eight is t2ice li6ely to die prematurely as is a normal 2eight person& !t has 'een lin6ed to several serious medical conditions including heart diseases and stro6e. high 'lood pressure. dia'etes. cancer and others ;,<& +he increasing rate of o'esity in the country has caused many individuals to 'e more health conscious& According to the $ritish =utrition Foundation. >+o lose 2eight. the energy inta6e from food must 'e less than the energy output> ;/<& +his is the reason 2hy calorie counting is the most effective 2eight loss method& E4ercise and proper diet are important factors in maintaining a healthy figure& $eing active re#uires the 'ody to use more calories& +here is a greater factor of losing 2eight 2hen more calories are 'urn than consume& (onitoring calorie inta6e is an effective 2ay of 2eight control& Proper Diet has a stronger effect on 2eight loss than physical activity does? 2hile physical activity. including e4ercise. has a stronger effect in preventing 2eight gain and maintaining 2eight loss& utting calories through dietary changes seems to promote 2eight loss more effectively than does e4ercise and physical activity& $ut physical activity also is important in 2eight ;0<& *osing 2eight isn7t just a'out loo6ing good. it is a'out 'eing healthy and living a comforta'le life& A'ove all. it is a'out avoiding the terri'le health conse#uences 'rought 'y o'esity& Filipinos are 'ecoming more conscious a'out their health and more concerned a'out living an active lifestyle ;9<&Due to people7s consciousness on their current health status. there is definitely a need to ta6e progress upon usual 2ay of monitoring 2eight& 5eighing %cale has no2 some digital signatures such that it can reflect the person7s current 2eight 2ith digital display& !n some mar6ets. digital 2eighing scale for grocery items are o'served. 2hereas in some large esta'lishment that offers health chec6-up. electronic or digital 2eighing scale are used& +here is a 2ide involvement upon this 2eighing scale to2ards the flo2 of this study& %ince 2eighing scale has not 'een limited on the use of getting 2eight it can 'e also lin6ed to2ards the application and 2ill serves as food scale& +his type of 2eighing scale is 6no2n as Digital =utritional %cale& +his is an advance scale that measures and calculates the nutrition of the food in terms of car'ohydrates. fats. proteins. alcohol content and a lot more& !t collects and gathers information on the food and then calculates its nutritional value& +hrough this. it ease the comple4ity of storing food data'ase along 2ith higher accuracy of food serving 2hich is the limitation of the previous research study upon 5eight (onitoring Application& C"NCEPT#A$ %AC&G"#ND -FOOD 5E!)1+ A*O"!E E@U!AA*E=+ -FOOD +YPE DA+A P"OE%%!=) POU=D +O A*O"!E U=!+ O=AE"+E" FOOD A*O"!EB)"A( $(! A*U*A+O" -EXE"!%E 5E!)1+ A*U*A+O" A*O"! E != -P"OF!*E 'IG#E ! Figure , sho2s the concepts used in the project. it involves different types of processing unit just to arrive in the goal of 2eight monitoring& Pha(e ! of the project concepts are in color )reen 2hich involves all the input needed such as the food type to 'e chosen at the nutritional scale and the Food 2eight from the food place in the scale& +he other simultaneous input is from the application 2hich are e4ercises from the e4ercise data'ase offered from the sync data'ase 'et2een the t2o& Plus this includes the storing of the user7s profile Ci&e& =ame. 2eight. age. heightD& Pha(e ) of this project concepts are in color $lue 2hich entails processes involved in the ac#uisition of data& From all the input in the nutritional scale. a data processing unit is re#uired in order to access the food data'ase then after 2hich the calorieBgram e#uivalent of the food is then transfer to a Pound-to-alorie onverter through the 2eight of the food in the scale& +he output of this is sho2n in the *ED Display& +his calorie e#uivalent is synchroni8ed in the running 1U"AA application and 2ill 'e stored as calorie inta6e& +he e4ercise that 2as stored and the calorie inta6e that 2as sync 2ill 'e converted into pounds in order to calculate the real-time 2eight of the person& +he application as 2ell offers $(! calculator in order to calculate $(! of others& Pha(e * of this project concepts are in color $lac6 2hich connotes output sho2n after all the input and processes done& +he first is the calorie e#uivalent of the food displayed in the nutritional scale *ED display& 5hile the graphical analy8er sho2s the history of the 2eight monitoring trend along 2ith the original. desired and actual 2eight& Statement of the Pro+lem +he research is directed to2ards finding solution on the limitations of the previous research study on 1U"AA Calorie 1andler Upgraded "eal-time Airtual ApplicationD. in terms of comple4ity and accuracy& +his has headed to a pro'lem on ho2 to simplify the interface of the 1U"AA. 2ith the help of a nutritional scale. 2hich could ease the difficulty of the user in using the application and increase accuracy of the input of calorie content as 2ell& Statement of H,pothe(i( Essentially. the o'jective of this research is to innovate or integrate the recent application of 1U"AA in terms of simplifying the use of the application and increasing the accuracy of the input of alorie content per serving& 5ith this an advance digital 2eighing scale is foreseen that 2ill measure calorie content of the food. and the recent smartphone application 2ill have a synchronous data gathering in terms of calorie inta6e& (oreover. it is hypothesi8ed as 2ell that a creation of )raphical Analy8er for data summary and $(! calculator is added on the features of the recent app& Scope and $imitation( +he scope of this project targets the additional features of an e4isting calorie trac6er %martphone application for 2eight monitoring& +hese add-on features include a $(! calculator that could calculate anyone7s $(! 2ithout changing user profile& 5hat7s more is that it has )raphical Analy8er that sho2s graphical representation of the trend of the user7s condition since the start of using the application& +his has 'ecome an easy representation of all the results of the monitoring the 2eight& !n line 2ith the creation of this advance digital nutrition scale it is targeted only to2ards food 2ith specified proteins. fats. car'ohydrates. and alcohol content for a more accurate calorie calculation& (oreover. since the application 2or6s primarily on trac6ing calories or e4ercise and evaluate progress through the resulting current 2eight automatically computed 'y the app. thus its main limitation is 'rought a'out 'y 'eing user dependent& Significance of the Stud, +his application helps people in losing. gaining or maintaining 2eight 'y monitoring its 2eight and motivates the user through the given information 'ased %martphone Application& !t computes calorie 'urn and calorie consumption and updates the current 2eight of the user& !t converts also the calorie to its pound e#uivalent. and the data'ase provides information that identifies 2hat 6ind of food and activity that gives less or more calories& And in the ne2 phase of advancing the 1U"AA application for 'etter processes. the creation of digital nutritional scale. synchroni8ed 2irelessly 2ith the app. that measure food calorie content could some ease the difficulty of the user in determining the calorie of the food& 5ith this. users of the application 2ill 'e a'le to e4perience remedies on 2hat food to 'e ta6en 2ith lesser calorie& +he researchers add some other features to improve the e4isting project. li6e sho2ing in the Add-ons 'utton. the )raphical Analy8er 2hich summari8es the condition of the 'ody from the day the user has started to use the application. and this can help simplify the comple4ity of monitoring the 2eight through graphical representation& Plus the $(! calculator that measures the 'ody status of a user 2ill 'e a'le to instill the necessity of having physically fit 'ody& +his study is not just a plain research. 'ut also it can engage in the line of 'usiness since it involves the real issue happening in our society& Definition of Term( Android- +his is a *inu4-'ased operating system for mo'ile devices such as %martphones and ta'let computers& !t 2as developed 'y )oogle in conjunction 2ith the Open 1andset Alliance& Android Application Package 'ile .AP&/- +his is the file format used to distri'ute and install application soft2are and middle2are onto )oogleEs Android operating system& %od, Ma(( Inde0 .%MI/- +his is a heuristic pro4y for estimating human 'ody fat 'ased on an individualEs 2eight and height& Calorie- +his is a measure of energy e4penditure& +he calories referred to in diet and e4ercises are 6ilocalories C6calD - ,--- of the calories referred to in science la'oratories for measuring chemical reactions& A pound of fat stores 9-FG calories C6calD& +o lose a pound of fat a 2ee6 a person must eat appro4imately H-- fe2er calories C6calD per day than heBshe e4pends& CH#1A- +his is the a''reviated form of the 'randed name for the %martphone application designed for the study& !t stands for Calorie Handler Upgraded Real-time Virtual Application& Digital 2eight Indicator- +his is also commonly called 5eight !ndicator is a system of indication or recording of the selector type or one that advances intermittently in 2hich all values are presented digitally. or in num'ers& !n a digital indicating or recording element. or in digital representation. there are no graduations& Digital Nutrition Scale- +his is a type of 2eighing scale that is not for human 2eight nor simply measures food 2eight 'ut more of calculating the nutritional value of the food in terms of calorie content& Eclip(e- +his is a multi-language soft2are development environment comprising a 2or6space and an e4tensi'le plug-in system& !t is 2ritten mostly in Iava& GSM CGlo+al S,(tem for Mo+ile Communication(D& +his is a standard set developed 'y the European +elecommunications %tandards !nstitute CE+%!D to descri'e protocols for second generation C/)D digital cellular net2or6s used 'y mo'ile phones& !t 'ecame the de facto glo'al standard for mo'ile communications 2ith over F-: mar6et share& "nline data+a(e- +his is a data'ase 2hich connects to an online net2or6. the internet& Smartphone- +his is a cellular phone 'uilt on a mo'ile operating system 2ith more advance feature and capa'le of running general purpose application& Smartphone Application- +his refers to a soft2are application that runs on mo'ile phones. ta'lets. and other similar devices& Short Me((age Ser3ice CSMSD& +his is a te4t messaging service component of phone. 2e'. or mo'ile communication systems& !t uses standardi8ed communications protocols to allo2 fi4ed line or mo'ile phone devices to e4change short te4t messages& Software De3elopment &it .SD&/- +his is 'asically a li'rary of soft2are that helps in developing applications and utilities& CHAPTE ) A E1IE2 "' E$ATED $ITEAT#E AND ST#DIES Ac#uiring a'normal 2eight could 'e alarming. danger in health and not physically fit& =o2adays. mo'ile phone is one of the evolving technologies and as technology rises. mo'ile apps also increase 2ith the increase in the demand of smartphone user& 1ealth is already part of their soft2are ma6ing 'ased on the e4isting apps that are concerned in health ;H<& +he creation of this application is from different sources and from different e4isting apps& =umerou s %martphone applications are on the rise in the android mar6et ;G<& %ince most average people cannot afford to hire perso nal nutritionis ts or gym trainer. there are emerging %martphone applications related to 2eight loss that 2ould ans2er to those e4pensive options& From the fact that the android mar6et is an open source for different interests. then health could also 'ecome part of their soft2are ma6ing ;J<& +his 2ould then entail that Electronics Engineering clearly has a role 2hen it comes to health and fitness& !n this sense. the project 2ill ta6e advantage of the mo'ile phones in order to integrate healthy living since most people are attuned to the latest gadgets and devices& +he soft2are application ma6ing 2ill 'e patterned from different sources& 5ith those e4isting apps. the limitations and 'oundaries 2ill 'e identified and improved& +he app named Kardio L "acingM 2as one of the most popular in terms of motivation& !t 'asically puts much emphasis only on running as a 2ay to lose 2eight& A person only needs to input the distance to 'e covered and start the time& +he goal then is to 'eat the 'est time recorded ;F<& Fast Food alorie ounter is an app 2hich puts emphasis on the food inta6e of its user& +he app contains all famous fast food chains around the 2orld 2ith their food menu& +he user only has to choose the food chain and the corresponding food then the phone app 2ill interpret the nutrition facts inherent to that food ;N<& +his 2ould aim to ma6e the user conscious of hisBher food inta6e& +he Endomondo %ports +rac6er app ta6es note of the sports activities done 'y the user and gives the 2or6out history and statistics& !t offers real time trac6ing of time. distance. speed and altitude ;,-<& +he alorie ounter app 'y Fat%ecret is the essential app to simply find nutritional information for the food inta6e 2hile 6eeping trac6 of the meals. e4ercise and 2eight& +his interprets the 'arcode of different pac6ed foods and interprets them 'y sho2ing the nutrients present as 2ell as the ris6s inherent 2hen too much of that certain food is ta6en& !t also as6s numerous #uestions as to the 2hole day food inta6e of the users as 2ell as the 6ind of e4ercises 2ere done ;,,<& 1o2ever. these mo'ile apps have their o2n limitations& For one. if the focus of the app is on the food inta6e. then the result 2ill just 'e a'out avoiding certain food& 5ith this. the concept of 2eight loss is neglected& !f nutritional facts are interpreted. it does not guarantee a full appreciation from the user since it is too scientific& (ost users need empirical data a'out their progress and all the more it can 'e appreciated if things are said in simpler terms& For those apps 2hich d2ell more on e4ercise. heavy 2or6 out or sports can cause inconsistency in the 2eight loss progress of the user& +he goal for losing 2eight 2ill ta6e longer than e4pected due to the fact that app users 2ill also have food inta6e& !f the food inta6e is not controlled as 2ell. then the 2or6 out process 2ill just 'e useless& For those apps 2hich only focus on 'eer inta6e. the scope of the app use 2ill just 'e limited to people 2ho drin6 'eer and not on the general pu'lic& %ince the researchers add some features to improve the e4isting project and 2ill 'e having a ne2 hard2are 2hich is the nutritional scale synchroni8ed directly in the application through 2ireless local area net2or6 +here 2ere some inventions in the field of 2eighing scale such as +he Eat%mart digital nutrition scale 2hich is a scale used to calculate calories. car'ohydrates. fi'er. sodium. potassium. magnesium. total fat. saturated fat. cholesterol. calcium. protein and vitamin 3& !t analyses the nutritional content of food and its data'ase stores appro4imately ,.--- different foods ;,/<& Another type of product is so called as +he 3itrics digital nutrition scale 2hich is a scale that provides visual information of nutritional content such as calories. fats. car's. proteins. fi'er. sodium. cholesterol and sugars& !t also sums up your daily nutritional consumption& You just place the food on the scale platform and enter the designated code provided in the data'ase and it 2ill display automatically the nutritional content& +his scale allo2s you to add at least NN food code of your o2n choice that is not availa'le in data'ase ;,0<& +o counter the visuali8ation of e4pected 2eight as made mentioned earlier. an informative site provided an e#uivalent 2eight in pounds in terms of calories& For a food inta 6e of 9-FG calories. one pound is added to the 2eig ht& For an e4ercise 2orth 0H-- calories. one poun d is reduced from th e 2eigh t& 5ith this relationship 'et2een calories and 2eig ht. the group deduced that an app userEs current 2eight add ed 2ith 2eight from food inta6e. less 2eight from e4ercise results to the e4pected 2eight of the person& Another thing to consider in using the mathematical relationship formed is that part of the calories ta6en inside the 'ody 2i ll ' e used 'ac6 as an energy 2hile the remaining unused calories 2ill 'e stored a s fa t& 1ence. 2hatever fo o d is ta6 en in. the calorie e#uivalent 2ill 'e 'urned in o n e 2 a y or another so tha t t h e 'od y 2eight 2ill still maintain if no fat accumulation ta6es place& !n the manner of developing this nutritional scale that 2ill someho2 sync 2ith the recent mo'ile application called 1U"AA. there 2ill 'e easier 2ay of calculating the calorie content of the food that someho2 updates the data input in the application for further calculations& !t is therefore a challenge to2ards the researchers to pursue a higher level of integral development in the field of nutritional scales that is correlated 2ith the continuous study on calorie trac6ing mo'ile app& CHAPTE * e(earch De(ign !n the process of ma6ing this study several type of methods 2ill 'e ta6en accordingly& +his research clearly utili8es a set of procedures in order to arrive at certain o'servations and conclusions 'ased on the underlying theory and hypotheses used in the implementation& +his characteristi c ma6e s the research E4perimen tal in nature& (oreover. certai n #uantifia'le parameters a r e needed in order to affirm varia'le relationships relativ e to the %martpho ne applicati on. thu s this research is also a @uantitative research& 5ith the use of #uantitative tests. several findings and reali8ations can 'e o'tain ed in order to arri ve a t a unifi ed conclusi on& +o do so. the findings are further analy8ed and assessed prior to conclusion. ma6ing the rese arch also Evaluative in nature& +he research design of this project is primarily composed of three inter-related procedures namely C,D the program among of the calorie trac6ing %martphone application for 2eig ht monitori ng and C/D the e4perimental setup of 2eight monitori ng progra m 2hic h 2ill 'e conduct ed to test the real-time monitorin g capa'ilit y of the %martphone application to various users C0D Develop a hard2are that 2eighs and calculate the calorie content of the food in terms of nutritional facts and C9D provide an integrated soft2are or system that reads and gathers data from the nutritional scale and transmit it via 5*A= to any android gadget that has 1U"AA application installed& +he programming of the %martpho ne application 2ill 'e done through the android soft2are development 6it C%D3D and the Eclipse program& Food calorie content and calories lost through variou s e4ercise 2ill 'e gathered together to form a data'ase 2hich 2ill 'e the 'asis for monist oaring the e4pected 2eight& 5eight Digital (icro )%( Anten na %ensor Display controller (odule )raphica l Application Processing Data %(% receiver via Ante nna Analy8er %ync Unit %torage ellphone 'IG#E )- Figure / summari8es the concepts use in the process of monitoring the 2eight of the person& +his involves multiple data gathering and micro processing unit for data'ase synchroni8ation and 2ireless transmission& 5eight %ensor serves as the 2eight detecting e#uipment for any food to 'e placed in the nutritional scale. it 2ill sense any changes of 2eight from reference point of Oero l's& +he Digital Display sho2s the e4act 2eight of the food in pounds from the 2eight sensors& And 2ith the use of micro- controller unit. !t 2ill 'e a'le to pacify the data gathered from the sensors and 2ill 'e processed and converted into digital codes& +his digitally signed data 2ill 'e processed for 5ireless transmission through )%( module and %(% receiver such as android phones& An antenna is use to ensure the high intensity of signals during transmission of data& +he %(% receiver of any android gadget stores this data in internal or e4ternal data storage unit& +his 2ill then 'e processed 'y a processing unit through decoding the transmitted data& After 2hich is synchroni8ing the data 2ith the recent application to increase the data'ase in the food inta6e category& +he application has then an added feature that analy8es all the history of 2eight monitoring in a graphical representation& De3elopment of the S,(tem !n system development it is essential to 6no2 the data'ases of the app 2hich comprises the lists of foods and e4ercises 2ith the corresponding calorie& For the diet plans. it comprises the food and meal suggestions to achieve the user7s goal& +he data'ase also includes ho2 to calculate automatically the food calorie& Defining first the necessary 'uttons that 2ill 'e used in interface is the first priority in smartphone application and 2ill 'e placed in their corresponding pages. se#uence and logic& +hese are made possi'le 'y the use of android soft2are development 6it& =e4t is the coding on functionality using IAAA& +he app is designed according to researcher7s goal and once the user placed an input the logical response 2ill 'ased on its input& +hrough this. the system is complete and the researchers should verify the application 'efore the formal testing& e(earch Setting For the programming of the %martphone application. computers or laptops 2ith the android soft2are development 6it and installed drivers are necessary& !t is also re#uired to install Eclipse plug in for the programming& 1aving completed the said devices and e#uipment. the programming 2ill 'e independent to environmental conditions& +he efficiency of the %martphone application 2ill 'e tested e4perimentally to various users& 1o2ever. e4ercises done 'y the users are 'ounded to 2hat is only availa'le in the application data'ase& +hus. their choices of physical activities are limited& +his goes the same 2ith the digital 2eighing scale? it can only analy8e the foods that are availa'le in the application data'ase& Although the user7s choice is limited. he has the privilege to add e4ercises and activities 2hich are not found in the application data'ase for his o2n convenience& +his 2ould 2iden the scope of activities the user can employ and record in the app& %everal 2eight loss activities can also 'e chosen such as aero'ics. 'as6et'all. running. 'icycling. treadmill. etc& 1ence. the setting for the research 2ould vary to different environmental conditions depending on the chosen activity to 'e done 'y the user& $as6et'all can 'e done on 'as6et'all courts. treadmill can 'e done at home or at the gym and so on ;,9<& Mode of Data Gathering +he mode of data gathering to 'e used in this research includes intervie2s. case studies and o'servations. and #ualitative analysis or descriptive statistics& !nitially. the researchers gather together all the information o'tained from the participants chosen at random& +he su'jects of the case study 2ill then o'jectively use the application& %u'se#uent improvements 2ill 'e 6eenly o'served and recorded 'y the proponents& !n the final stage. the parta6ers 2ill 'e intervie2ed as to ho2 'e their e4perience in using the application under real-time conditions& +hat is. the data o'tained from the participants is not e4pressed in numerical form& +hus the emphasis is on the stated e4periences of the participants and on the stated meanings they attach to themselves. to the app. and to their environment& +his also includes testing of the digital nutritional for #uality and accuracy of data gathered& eference( [1]. httpPBB222&medicinenet&comBscriptBmainBart&aspQarticle6eyR9/HN0 [2]. httpPBB222&2eightlossresources&co&u6BcaloriesBcalorieScounting&htm [3]. httpPBB222&mayoclinic&comBhealthB2eight-lossBA=-,G,N ;9< httpPBB222&euromonitor&comBconsumer-health-in-the-philippinesBreport ;H<&