SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter includes introduction about warehouse, managing the warehouse with IoT and problem
statement.

1.1 BACKGROUND
Food is the basic necessity of man. It is a mixture of different nutrients such as carbohydrate, protein, fat,
vitamins and minerals. These nutrients are essential for growth, development, and maintenance of good
health throughout life.
According to an estimate of World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1.7 million deaths per year
around the globe are associated with low intake. As shown in Figure 1.1 According to the FAO (Food and
Agriculture Organization), 1.3 billion tons a year are reported food losses account for 33% of total
production [13]. Demand for food is growing steadily and could reach about 150-170% of current demand
by 2050 [14]. Moreover, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 1.7 million deaths a
year worldwide are associated with malnutrition of food.

Source: Food
Production and waste of food in India Corporation
of India

350
300 318
250 293 284
200 250
150
100 117.2 120.28 125.84
50 95
0
2009 2012 2015 2018

production(in Mt) Food waste(in Mt)

Figure 1.1: Production and waste of food in India

In a developing country like India, agriculture is one of the main sectors in terms of income. Good food
storage plays a very important role when it comes to food security that is affected by both food loss and food
wastage. The losses can be reduced, which will automatically increase the amount of food availability.
Due to temperature variation around 24% of food grains being wasted every year Estimated around 17% of
food grains are spoilt due to insects and microbes. Approximately 14% of grains are being degraded by
moisture. Approximately 5% of grains spoilt by birds. Thus, food spoilage issues need to be addressed
Warehouse is the top priority for storing goods like food grains, fruits and vegetables etc. A warehouse is a

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 1

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers,
transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts
of cities, towns, or villages. Stored goods can include any raw materials, packing materials, spare parts,
components, or finished goods associated with agriculture, manufacturing, and production. In India and
Hong Kong, a warehouse may be referred to as a "go-down", as shown in Figure 1.2.

Figure 1.2: Traditional gunny bag warehouse

Traditional warehouses are labour-intensive. They involve a huge amount of human workforce and manual
operations that increase an error risk. Warehousing organization is the key part of the supply chain
management. Warehouse in the agriculture sector is considered as the more crucial sector generally for
ensuring food security. In earlier days, there been outmoded methods for storing the foods and grains which
required a lot of the manual approach occasionally which is time-consuming and inefficient. Food and grains
start to spoil once they are harvested. Harvested yields have to be stored in a place where the yield gets
proper food security in terms of access to quality, safe, and nutritious food. One of the main factors to
improve food security is to lessen food waste. A warehouse provides protection of foods from loss and
damage due to excessive heat, moisture, dust, and wind. The main aim must be to maintain the crop in good
condition for as long as possible. Storage of crops is one of the functions of warehousing where protection of
crops and risk bearing is an essential factor. In addition, it prevents any mishaps like theft or loss. As
observed by the study of the Food and Agriculture Organization that the higher the temperature, the lower
should be the moisture of the grain in order to make sure good conservation of the crops. Due to high
temperature, food loses its weight slowly and in the end are shrivelled, rotten. High moisture content leads to
problems because it encourages fungal and insect problem. Lack of proper care could cost huge losses for
the farmers. This makes their huge income loss [11].

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 2

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Problems with traditional warehouse

i. Messy warehouse layout
A survey conducted by Logistics Management back in 2018 suggests that it doesn’t always work—the
average warehouse capacity utilized by manufacturers was only around 68%. Not having enough storage
because of ineffective use of space is still a common pain point in warehouses. Efficient use of space is a
critical success factor in warehousing. Inadequate storage space and inefficient use of available storage are
common problems in warehouses with poor facility layout. As shown Figure 1.3 Poorly configured
warehouses are a major cause for worry for managers because of the inherent potential for negative impacts
on profits.

Figure 1.3: Problems with traditional warehouse

i. Excessive spending on labour

There are several types of tasks in a warehouse that labour workers are employed to handle such as general
labour like cleaning, forklift operator and material handler. There’s a common notion that only automation
and equipment is expensive. But what several warehouse managers fail to realise is that manual labour
doesn’t come cheap either. labour is one of these biggest expenses some warehouses spend on, ranging from
50-70% of the overall warehousing budget.
ii. Loss due to Lack of proper knowledge
This type of loss is common in traditional warehouse, where the safekeeping of food is managed by a
labourer, in traditional warehouse due to lack of intelligence in IoT, they won’t consider to switch to new
modern technology. They neither take any precautionary measures nor they cautious about environmental
factors Refer to Figure 1.4

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 3

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 4

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Figure 1.4: Infected Rice and Wheat

Similarly, Figure 1.4 shows fungus and bacterial infection in rice caused by moisture and humidity, Fungus
infection caused by excessive moisture, this fungus and bacteria will spread rapidly making unusable for
storing crops.
Using current growing technology warehouse can store goods prevent the spoilage before it happens. More
profit with semi-automated and fully automated warehouse management system can be achieved i.e, with
IoT.
Using modern technology like IoT, Embedded programming and cloud access, traditional warehouse can be
redesigned as a modern warehouse, here are some advantages of using modern warehouse. Can avoid
excessive spending on labour by using different IoT techniques, warehouse monitoring can be done by
devices instead of labour, since the monitoring is done devices which has IoT access then no need to worry
about fungal and bacterial infection, even some environmental parameters.
1.2 INTRODUCTION TO IoT
Microsoft founder Bill Gates referring to the idea of item interconnection in The Road Ahead, In 1999,
Kevin Ashton of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Automatic Identification Center first proposed
the term “Internet of Things” and its simple concept, Since then, the application of the Internet of Things has
been gradually expanding. However, with the advancement of technology and the Internet, the era of IOT
has come. In 2013, Germany proposed the "Industry 4.0" policy, which is based on the physical and virtual
integration with the internet as the core application to the factory or everywhere, after this policy was put
forward, various countries successively put forward their own policies, the United States launched
"Advanced Manufacturing" and attracted manufacturing backflow, China launched "Made in China 2025" to
cooperate with Germany in hopes of reaching "World's Industry 4.0 Factory", Taiwan also launched
"Productivity 4.0" to autonomy the key technologies and cultivate more professional technicians. IOT has
gradually changed our lives, including improving our production efficiency, improving the convenience and
comfort of our lives, the smart life full of IOT will coming soon. In this article, we think about IOT, the data
obtained by RFID and various sensors is transmitted to the computer via LORA with Arduino to form a
Smart Warehouse Management [15]
1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT
A warehouse management system (WMS) is a software solution that aims to simplify the complexity of
managing a warehouse. It Provide real-time insight into inventory location and quantity. Warehouse
management makes inventory a much faster, easier and efficient task. Managing a warehouse is tough but
the outcome is astonishing. The food demand is continuously increasing and could reach even more in the
near future because of the increasing population which in turn demands more. In India 40% food wasting

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 5

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

which has no value for farmers, because they will grow all these for months but we just wasting in minutes,
most of the farmers quitting farming because neither they getting a profit nor the food grown is using
efficiently, hence
“Save food by storing food. The food demand is continuously increasing and could reach about 150-170%
of the current demand by 2050.

CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE SURVEY
Literature survey plays an important role in the life cycle of any project. The purpose of research is to come
up with a new solution by understanding the shortcomings and obstacles in the existing system. It also
includes comparing existing and proposed method. This chapter gives some related work of the different
methods of warehouse managements and the objectives of present work.
2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 6

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Researchers have worked in different parameters such as Temperature sensor, Humidity sensor, LDR,
Smoke sensor, Fire sensor and many. Also, worked on different hardware devices and software platforms. In
the past some of the researchers have done related work for warehouse monitoring. Some of which are
included.
Authors [1] proposed development in internet of things based smart warehouse monitoring system. Network
of sensors includes vibration, humidity, temperature, fire sensor. It is done with the help of internet of things
and raspberry pi zero model controller adopt IOT to convey the messages. The effective open-source
language python is used for programming. The result of the paper is kit has been connected by sensors and
controller and thereby to send the alerts used the extend source as a wi-fi module. If there is an
environmental change so this IOT sends the alerts by means of messages through mobile.
Few Authors [2] proposed about safe storage of fruits and vegetables. Paper describes the environmental
factors effected on the fruits warehousing quality and traditional means of protection and proposes a multi-
parameter monitoring system based on Wi-Fi, consists of PIC16F877A microcontroller, internet of things,
four sensors temperature, light, humidity, gas sensors. Which are all connected to the PIC microcontroller
through which they send the physical parameter values to the thingspeak.com. The data collected at things
speak server can be used to perform various MATLAB analysis, MATLAB visualization by the analysts to
make a difference in the setup in accordance with the changing warehouse environment.
The authors [3] presented IOT based smart cold storage system for efficient stock management. The proto
type incorporates an IOT based smart cold storage. The paper consists of raspberry pi inbuilt wi-fi,
ARDUINO HX7111C and temperature sensor. The prototype uses a webcam to detect the presence of
objects, ARDUINO is used as weight scale controller and raspberry pi-3 as a home server. The controller
will collect all information and send them to raspberry pi-3 using python programming the weight of the
object when placed the storage box is identified.
Some authors [4] described about a real time intelligent monitoring and notification system based on internet
of things enabled approach for real time monitoring of temperature, relative humidity, luminosity and
concentration of gas in cold storage and the paper consists of sensing module wireless communication
technology, android app, microcontroller, IOT, temperature, humidity, light intensity, CO 2 sensors. C
language is used for programming.

Paper [5] titled Smart Warehouse Management System Concept with Implementation Distribution
companies use software system called WMS (warehouse Management System). WMS is important part of
the company’s and it makes the processes simple to keep track the concept of smart WMS that is
implemented in one of the largest distribution companies in bosnio and Herzegovina, the system uses
artificial intelligence and optimization algorithms to improve working process. The optimized process can
make large time environment the concept described in standard WMS by giving optimized solution to users
Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 7
SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

the implemented concept optimizes stack planning product placement stock to picking zone, transfer process
as well as order picking transport and tracking process.
The authors [6] proposed Warehouse Management System Development Based On Open Source Web
Framework With the increase in the type of product more and more companies intend to manage the
warehouse relying on WMS, However the price is much higher because of complexity develops a WMS for
small business. moreover, the software archives the target of managing storage Ex: warehouse, stock taking,
garage shift and other basic functions they develop a communication protocol between their mineral
monitoring client realizing the information of the server to PLC. Then introduces the basic process and
methods of warehouse management system established by domestic small and boos trap, which id an open
source, beautiful and flexible framework.
Authors [7] are proposed Design and Implement of Warehouse Management System Based On Apo
Warehouse management system is answer to reducing inventory cost and improving degree of customer
satisfaction AOP is aspect-oriented programming for short as a concern separation technique, which permits
the develops to create clean and well encapsulated objects without extraneous it makes the functionality. It
makes the design and codes high modularization and more structured makes concerns localized not
spreading throughout the system. Designs and implements the warehouse management information system
based on AOP it turns out by practice that the design of the system con completely meets the increasing
demands of complexity and accuracy in modern warehouse management.
A Research paper [8] on warehouse management system based on association rules, according to the
association rules obtained by the system can analyse the amount of goods involved in the association rules
according to the algorithm of association rules they are set experiment, we analyse the data in the list of
goods out of the warehouse, the steps of mining association rules can be divided into two steps. i.e., finding
sets from the transaction and set finding the association rules that satisfy the minimum support. they are
applying the association rules to the warehouse management system, when procurement staff decides to
procure the goods, whose amount is less than the minimum inventory. warehouse management system based
on the association rules will system. Obtained the rules by analysing data in the system.
The authors [9] proposed Smart Warehouse Monitoring Using Iot. The warehouse should be screened at
regular intervals to reduce storage cost of food grains due to atmospheric conditions and are documented
paper intends to develop an IoT based smart vibration, humidity, temperature, fire sensors. It is done with
the help of current technology (IoT). Raspberry controller adopts IoT technology to convey the messages.
Based on the sensor’s data the appropriate data is captured and manipulated based on the limit given in the
software and send timely information to the concern department officials of Central warehouse corporation
through SMS for moderation and corrective actions arising due to atmospheric conditions inside the
warehouse. The daring thing is to capture the ambient changes inside the warehouse. The use of LM35 is to

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 8

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

seize temperature changes. The DTH11 checks for moisture contents. The SW420 examines the trembling
of the earth. The blaze can also be spot using LDR and infrared. The Raspberry pi has internal Wi-Fi
module through which the IoT is connected. It also has a SD slot which stores a limit range of each sensor.
By execution and implementation of the existing technology the inventory management for the next
generation smart storehouse management is proposed with Iot enabled sensor technology.
Authors [10] presented on Warehouse Logistics Control and Management System Based on RFID. The
hardware and software of the warehouse logistics control and management system based on RFID (Radio
Frequency Identification), and explains the design scheme and implementation method of the system. The
write operation is done using the electronic tag through a tag reader. The logistics control is implemented
with PLC by communicating with SIEMENS Win CC configuration software and OPC technology. By
accessing a SQL Server, functions such as automatic data storing, querying and deleting of goods and
warehouse information are realized. The hardware includes the EFAT/LC experimental equipment, logistics
control and management computer, the electronic tag system and the tag information display device. With
an application example of the integration of electronic tag technology and logistics control/management, this
paper introduced a logistics automation management system based on RFID technology.
Few authors [11] explained about IoT Instrumented Food and Grain Warehouse Traceability System for
Farmers. The authors know the good food storage plays a very important role when it comes to food security
that is affected by both food loss and food wastage. The losses can be reduced, which will automatically
increase the amount of food availability. An IoT enabled monitoring system to deploy in remote areas where
the accessibility is very minimum for farmers with good storage facilities to reduce food losses and increase
food safety. The proposed framework monitors warehouse parameters such as temperature, humidity, CO,
motion, vibration, and smoke which is highly affected to grains. The ESP32 Wi-Fi module collects the data
from the sensors and module sends data to Node-red dashboard through MQTT broker.
Some authors [12] presented the Detection of Food Quality and Quantity at Cold Storage using IoT. They
presented a low-cost cold storage management system based on IoT to overcome the difficulties of keeping
track of food quality and quantity. Their proposed approach makes use of heterogeneous IoT devices, cloud
services, and an Android application. To keep track of food quantity we have used UV Sensor which gives
the occupancy of the box in which food is kept from which food quantity can be calculated and a MQ4 gas
sensor is to detect methane gas in the atmosphere which tells the quality (freshness) of the food.
After extensive literature survey the following gaps were identified.
Most of the authors used temperature and humidity sensors only, use of Raspberry Pi and other
microcontrollers are way expensive than node MCU which is used in the project, many of them didn’t work
on other spoilage of food grains they mostly concentrated on cold storage. To develop a WMS for

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 9

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

implementing the project taken few pros from this review survey, the main objective is to give a cost
effective as well as cost efficient easy to use multisensory system to farmers.

2.2 OBJECTIVES
The present project is taken up with the following objectives:
i. To Develop a cost-effective IoT instrumented Warehouse Traceability System.
ii. To enable farmers to track live data of temperature, moisture and other parameters.
iii. To Reduce the food grain spoilage.

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

This chapter includes project flow, system design, working, hardware and software requirements.

3.1 FLOW-DIAGRAM

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 10

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The present project flow is as follows, the parameters of food spoilage is monitored regularly, if food
spoilage
is found the sensors output will be high and processed by microcontroller intimating the same in Blynk
Mobile application via Blynk cloud access. If food is not spoiled it will be regularly is safekeeping area.

3.2
SYSTEM DESIGN
Figure 3.2 shows the main block diagram of the proposed proto type. Each component is supplied a
regulated power supply for them to operate in co-ordination with each other. ESP8266 microcontroller

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 11

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

consists of in built WIFI module along with internet connection. proposed model uses low cost device
components which make it up to an affordable warehouse setup.

Figure 3.1: Block diagram of smart warehouse management system

The module mainly consists of NodeMCU ESP8266 microcontroller which is the heart of the system. The
IoT functioning of the system is well managed by the low cost, highly efficient Wi-Fi module. There are
four sensors viz., temperature sensor and humidity sensor (DHT22), pir sensor, gas sensor (MQ3), flame
sensor and blynk mobile application which are all connected to the microcontroller. Arduino ide used to
dump the code to NodeMCU. The effective open-source language C is used for programming. The output
of each sensor is taken and virtually writing in blynk cloud. Setting different threshold for different types of
grains like rice and wheat. If the value exceeds the threshold, blynk will send the blynk notification. Blynk
mobile
application used to see the parametric values remotely and taking precautionary measures.

3.3 WORKING

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 12

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Figure 3.3 shows the schematic of proposed model consist of NodeMCU ESP8226 microcontroller, blynk
application, temperature sensor and humidity sensor (DHT22), pir sensor, gas sensor (MQ3), flame sensor
which are all connected to the microcontroller.

Figure 3.2: schematic of proposed model

NodeMCU ESP8266 microcontroller consists of in built WIFI module along with internet connection.
Temperature and humidity sensor are used to monitoring a live temperature and humidity in storage area.
DHT22 sensor connected to pin number D4 of NodeMCU, DHT22 gives both temperature and humidity
detection, this output from sensor is virtually written in Blynk mobile app using the pin V6 for temperature
and V5 for humidity. PIR sensor is used to detect any infrared emitting object such as human beings or
animals if it is the range of the sensor and connected to pin number D5 of NodeMCU, output from PIR is
virtually written in Blynk app using pin V0. Gas detection sensor connected to pin number A0 of
NodeMCU, we receive output when the quantity of gas exceeds the threshold and a buzzer is used and
connected to pin number D1, output is virtually written in Blynk app using the pin V1. Fire detection sensor
is connected to pin number D7 of NodeMCU, when wavelength between desired range is detected, it gives
output and connected to buzzer used as a fire alarm, connected to Blynk app via Pin V7.

3.4 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 13

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Proposed system consists of hardware and software requirements, the hardware components used are listed
below.
3.4.1. NodeMCU (ESP8266)
The NodeMCU ESP8266 development board comes with the ESP-12E module containing the ESP8266 chip
having Tensilica Xtensa 32-bit LX106 RISC microprocessor. This microprocessor supports RTOS and
operates at 80MHz to 160 MHz adjustable clock frequency. NodeMCU has 128 KB RAM and 4MB of
Flash memory to store data and programs. Its high processing power with in-built Wi-Fi / Bluetooth and
ESP8266 NodeMCU has total 17 GPIO pins. NodeMCU can be powered using a Micro USB jack and VIN
pin (External Supply Pin). It supports UART, SPI, and I2C interface.

Figure 3.3: NodeMCU microcontroller

Programming NodeMCU ESP8266 with Arduino IDE. the NodeMCU Development Board can be easily
programmed with Arduino IDE since it is easy to use. The operating voltage range of ESP8266 is 3V to
3.6V, the board comes with a LDO voltage regulator to keep the voltage steady at 3.3V. It can reliably

supply up to 600mA.
3.4.2. TEMPARATURE AND HUMIDITY SENSOR
DHT22 Digital Temperature and Humidity Sensor uses a capacitive humidity sensor and a thermistor to
measure the surrounding air and spits out a digital signal on the data pin (no analog input pins needed).
The DHT22 also has a capacitive sensing element and a high precision temperature measuring element
connected to a high-performance 8-bit microcontroller. Thus, it has the advantages of excellent quality,
ultra-fast response, strong anti-interference ability, and high-cost performance.
Extremely low power consumption, and with a signal transmission distance of more than 20 meters thus it’s
able to withstand the most demanding applications. Supply voltage ranges from 3.3V to 5.5V, a 5V supply is
recommended. In case of a 5V power supply, can keep the sensor as long as 20 meters. The humidity sensor
of 0 to 99.9 %RH with ±2% accuracy while the temperature sensor ranges from -40 to 80℃ with ±0.5℃
accuracy.

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 14

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Figure 3.4: DHT22 temperature and humidity sensor

3.4.3. PIR SENSOR

PIR stands for Pyroelectric Infrared Radial Sensor or Passive Infrared Sensor. PIR is an electronic sensor
which detects the changes in the infrared light across certain distance and gives out an electrical signal at its
output in response to a detected IR signal. It can detect any infrared emitting object such as human beings or
animals if it is the range of the sensor, or moves away from the range, or moves within the range of the
sensor. The HC-SR501 pir sensor operating voltage is 5 V to 20 V and its current consumption is 65 mA
when it detects any change in IR light. A knob is provided to adjust the time for the output to stay HIGH
after detecting the IR. This is time period can be adjusted from 5 seconds to 5 minutes. The angle of the
detection area is around 110-degree cone. A knob is given to adjust the sensitivity; we can vary from 3 meter
to 7 meters perpendicular to senor.

Figure 3.5: PIR sensor

3.4.4 GAS SENSOR

MQ-3 module is suitable for detecting Alcohol, Benzine, CH 4, Hexane, LPG, CO. Sensitive material of MQ-
3 gas sensor is SnO2, which with lower conductivity in clean air. When the target alcohol gas exists, the
sensor’s conductivity is higher along with the gas concentration rising. MQ-3 gas sensor has high sensitivity
to Alcohol, and has good resistance to disturb of gasoline, smoke and vapor. This sensor provides an analog
resistive output based on alcohol concentration. When the alcohol gas exists, the sensor’s conductivity gets

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 15

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

higher along with the gas concentration rising. Supply voltage ranges from 3.3V to 5.5V and Current
Consumption is 150mA.The Operating temperature is 14 to 122 °F (-10 to 50°C) and Detecting
Concentration is 0.05-10mg/L Alcohol.

Figure 3.6: GAS sensor

3.4.5 FLAME SENSOR

A Flame Sensor module or Fire Sensor module is a small size electronics device that can detect a fire source
or any other bright light sources. This sensor basically detects IR (Infrared) light wavelength between 760
nm – 1100 nm that is emitted from the fire flam and operating temperature is -25℃ ~ 85℃.

Figure 3.7: Flame sensor

Phototransistor sensor which is a high speed and high sensitivity. This sensor detects fire/flame light in a
range of 760 nm – 1100 nm wavelength. Operating voltage ranges from 3.3V to 5.5V and operating Current
is 15mA.detection angle is 0-60 degree.
3.4.6. BUZZER
A buzzer is used in the system to alert the people nearby so that they can analyse the situation and take
necessary action accordingly. The buzzer is connected to the NodeMCU. It gets activated whenever smoke
is detected by the MQ3 sensor or fire detected by the flame sensor. Its frequency and tone can be changed
and used according to the requirements. A piezo electric buzzer can be driven by an oscillating electronic

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 16

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

circuit or other audio signal source. A click, beep or ring can indicate that a button has been pressed. A
conventional Piezo bell works between 3 – 12 volts DC.

Figure 3.8: Buzzer

3.4.7 LED
Light Emitting Diode (LED) is a semiconductor device, which can emit light when an electric current pass
through it. To do this, holes from p-type semiconductors recombine with electrons from n-type
semiconductors to produce light. The wavelength of the light emitted depends on the bandgap of the
semiconductor material. Harder materials with stronger molecular bonds generally have wider bandgaps.

Figure 3.9: LED

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 17

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

3.5 SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

Proposed system consists of hardware and software requirements, the software components used are listed
below.

3.5.1 ARDUINO IDE

The Arduino Integrated Development Environment – or Arduino Software (IDE) – contains a text editor for
writing code, a message area, a text console, a toolbar with buttons for common functions and a series of
menus. It connects to the Arduino hardware to upload programs and communicate with them. Programs
written using Arduino Software (IDE) are called sketches. These sketches are written in the text editor and
are saved with the file extension. info. The editor has features for cutting/pasting and for searching/replacing
text. The message area gives feedback while saving and exporting and also displays errors. The console
displays text output by the Arduino Software (IDE), including complete error messages and other
information. The bottom right-hand corner of the window displays the configured board and serial port. The
toolbar buttons allow you to verify and upload programs, create, open, and save sketches, and open the
serial monitor.

Figure 3.10: Arduino IDE

3.5.2 EMBEDDED C PROGRAM

Embedded C is most popular programming language in software field for developing electronic gadgets.
Each processor used in electronic system is associated with embedded software. Embedded C programming
plays a key role in performing specific function by the processor. In day-to-day life we used many electronic
devices such as mobile phone, washing machine, digital camera etc.

i. High Reliability
ii. Portability
iii. Scalability

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 18

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

3.5.3 BLYNK APP

The Blynk app is really an app editor. It allows you to create one or more projects. Each project can contain
graphical widgets, like virtual LEDs, buttons, value displays and even a text terminal, and can interact with
one or more devices. With Blynk, can create smartphone applications that allow you to easily interact with
microcontrollers or even full computers such as the Pi, NodeMCU. The main focus of the Blynk platform is
to make it super-easy to develop the mobile phone application. Developing a mobile app that can talk to
your Arduino is as easy as dragging a widget and configuring a pin.

Figure 3.11: Blynk application

.

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 19

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

CHAPTER 4

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter describes the results obtained from the implemented warehouse management system.

4.1 HARDWARE PROTOTYPE

Figure4.1 shows the top view of our proposed model prototype, the model made with a regular card board
resembling the structure of warehouse, it includes NodeMCU, 4 sensors (DHT22, MQ135, PIR, Fire), 2
buzzer, 1 LED and small packets.

PIR sensor
Smoke sensor
Buzzer

Gunny bags

Temperature and Node MCU

Humidity sensor
Flame sensor

Figure 4.1: Proposed model

These small packets filled with rice, wheat and cereals, packets resembling the gunny bags stored in
warehouse. Respective to top view, right side of the model includes flame sensor and two buzzers
connected.
At the left side DHT22 and MQ135 sensors connected as show in Figure 4.1. PIR sensor and LED are
placed in back side of the model. If any variation found in the model respective sensors will detect and
processed by the microcontroller (NodeMCU), with the help of inbuilt wi-fi it will access blynk cloud and
information can be viewed in blynk application remotely.

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 20

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

4.2 Temperature and Humidity Sensor

DHT22 output calibrated digital signal. It utilizes exclusive digital-signal-collecting-technique and humidity
sensing technology, assuring its reliability and stability. It’s sensing elements is connected with 8-bit single-
chip computer. Every sensor of this model is temperature compensated and calibrated in accurate calibration
chamber and the calibration-coefficient is saved in type of programme in OTP memory, when the sensor is
detecting, it will cite coefficient from memory. Small size & low consumption & long transmission
distance(20m) enables DHT22 to be suited in all kinds of harsh application occasions. Single-row packaged
with four pins, making the connection very convenient.

Figure 4.2: Normal temperature and humidity

Figure 4.3: Temperature and humidity variation

Figure 4.2 shows the normal room temperature and humidity recorded. Figure 4.3 shows the variation in
temperature and humidity while applying heat. The above data is taken from blynk mobile application.

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 21

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

DHT22 Digital Temperature and Humidity Sensor uses a capacitive humidity sensor and a thermistor to
measure the surrounding air and spits.

4.3 PIR Sensor

Passive infrared (PIR) sensors use a pair of pyroelectric sensors to detect heat energy in the
surrounding environment. These two sensors sit beside each other, and when the signal differential
between the two sensors changes (if a person enters the room, for example), the sensor will engage.
That may mean it triggers an alarm, notifies authorities, or maybe turns on a floodlight.

Figure 4.4: No motion detected

Figure 4.5: Motion detected

Figure 4.4 shows no motion or movement detected. In figure 4.5 shows the output goes high whenever any
objects (insects, birds, rodents etc..) detected. It can detect any infrared emitting object such as human
beings or animals if it is the range of the sensor, or moves away from the range, or moves within the range
of the sensor.

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 22

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

4.3. Gas Detection Sensor

A catalytic gas sensor contains a platinum coil and is heated when it comes into contact with gaseous
reactants. This raises the temperature within the coil. The catalytic gas sensor will sound the alarm and alert
people if that temperature change is within what is considered a dangerous range.

Figure 4.6: no smoke or odour detected

Figure 4.7: odour detected

As figure 4.6 shows no smoke or odour detected. When odour, smoke or gas intensity reaches the more than
the threshold buzzer will go high. The sensor Detecting a wide range of gases including NH3, NOX, Alcohol,
benzene, smoke and CO2.

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 23

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

4.4 Flame Detection sensor

Flame sensor is the most sensitive to ordinary light that is why its reaction is generally used as flame alarm
purposes. This module can detect flame or wavelength in 760 nm to 1100 nm range of light source. Small
plate output interface can and single chip can be directly connected to the microcomputer IO port. The
sensor and flame should keep a certain distance to avoid high temperature damage to the sensor. The
shortest test distance is 80 cm, if the flame is bigger, test it with farther distance. The detection angle is 60
degrees so the flame spectrum is especially sensitive. The detection angle is 60 degrees so the flame
spectrum is especially sensitive, we added buzzer so that we can necessarily measures by hearing sound.

Figure 4.8: No flame detected

Figure 4.9: Flame detected

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 24

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Figure 4.8 shows no flame detected. If fire or any short circuit which catches fire the sensor will detects and
buzzer will turn on and get the reading in blynk application as shown in Figure 4.9.

CHAPTER 5
This chapter includes conclusion and future scope of our project.

5.1 CONCLUSION
A warehouse is a mercantile architecture for entrepot of stuff. Warehouses are used by producers, dealers,
traders, wholesalers, distributors, customs, etc. The use of a smart warehouse management system (WMS) is
the cherry on top of all of smart technology. This warehouse should be screened at regular intervals to
reduce storage cost of food grains due to atmospheric conditions and are to be documented.
Considering the safe storage of foods grains which is closely related to our daily life and health. The real
time monitoring on foods warehousing environment promotes the upgrading of warehouse management
system. In this model, temperature, humidity, fire, PIR and gas sensors are used in warehouse, which can be
implemented in the storage area. The proposed system validated successfully with the help of advanced
sensor technology. It will improve the effectiveness of warehouse management and reduced the error rate
remarkably based on the Internet and cloud computing technologies. Smart warehouse management system
is capable of notifying the details about the food spoils in storage area. Continuous monitoring by the real
owner of the warehouse can be done in almost real time. All the sensors are very economical when
compared with the sensors used in the other works and yields almost same results. Computational effort is
also greatly reduced by using correlated values of the different sensors.
6.1 FUTURE SCOPE
Even though our smart warehouse storage system is more efficient, the sensing coverage area is limited. So,
the sensing range has to be increased. By using more advanced sensor for detection and recognition,
irrespective of the position of the storage area the system should be able to detect and recognize them
accurately.

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 25

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
1.Bharath Gowda M, Abhilash M K, Bharath B M, Pakeerappa, Suchitra M, Vinay Kumar B K, “ A
review on Smart Warehouse Management System”, International Conference on Engineering
Innovation, 3rd June 2022 (received Best paper award)

PUBLICATION
1. Bharath Gowda M, Abhilash M K, Bharath B M, Pakeerappa, Suchitra M, Vinay Kumar B K, “A
review on Smart Warehouse Management System”, IJERT (Accepted under process)

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 26

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

REFERENCES
[1] k.Mohanraj,S.vijayalakshmi,N.balaji,R.chithrakkannan,R.karthikeyan “ internet of things based smart warehouse
monitoring system” IEEE international conference on International Journal of Engineering and Advanced
Technology (IJEAT), 2019.
[2] Sowmya TK, Shreya V agadi, Saraswathi KG, Puneeth B nirvani, Prajwal S “implementation of IoT
Based Smart Warehouse management System” IEEE International conference on International Journal of
Engineering Research and technology (IJERT), 2018.
[3] K. umamaheswari, M. susneha and B. sheeba kala “IoT based Smart Cold Storage System for Efficient
Stock Management” IEEE International Conference on International Conference on Communication and Signal
Processing,2020
[4] Hina Afreen and Imran sarwar rajwan “an IoT Based Real Timing Intelligent Monitoring Cold Storage”
IEEE, 2021
[5] Emir zunic,Sead Delalic, Karim Hodzic,Admir besirevic, Harun “Smart Warehouse Management System
Concept With Implementation” IEEE, 2018
[6] Chuanhong Zhou, CIMS Qi-Fi “Warehouse Managemant System Development Based On Open Source
Web Framework” IEEE, 2016
[7] Luo cheng, Xu did, Lai ming yong and wang yan “Design And Implement Of Warehouse Management System
Based On Aop” IEEE,2017
[8] Zhimin Chen , Wei sung “Research on warehouse management system based on association rules” IEEE
6TH International Conference of computer science and network technology(ICCSNT), 2017
[9] K.Mohanraj, S.Vijayalakshmi, N.Balaji, R.Chithrakkannan, R.Karthikeyan “Smart Warehouse
Monitoring Using Iot” IEEE 2018
[10] Xiaoqin Lian, Xiaoli Zhang, Yifang Weng, Zhengang Duan “Warehouse Logistics Control and
Management System Based on RFID” IEEE, 2017
[11] Susmita Banerjee, Anil Kumar Saini, Himanshu Nigam, Vijay “IoT Instrumented Food and Grain
Warehouse Traceability System” IEEE, 2019
[12] Bikrant Sarmah and G. Aruna “ Detection Of Food Quality and Quantity at Cold Storage using IoT” IEEE, 2017
[13] J. Gustavsson, C. Cederberg, U. Sonesson, R. Van Otterdijk, and A. Meybeck, ‘‘Global food losses and food
waste,’’ FAO, Rome, Italy, Tech. Rep., 2011.
[14] Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (2009). “How to Feed the World in 2050”.
[15] Wen-Tsai Sung*, Cheng-Yen Lu, “Smart Warehouse Management Based on IoT Architecture”, 2018

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 27

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

International Symposium on Computer, Consumer and Control (IS3C).

APPENDIX
SOFTWARE CODE

#define BLYNK_TEMPLATE_ID "TMPLcw7SZm4s"

#define BLYNK_DEVICE_NAME "temp and humidity"

#define BLYNK_AUTH_TOKEN "2PUNi2mYy_SAs6gq0-4T8fJ7TfsWcAR9"

#define BLYNK_PRINT Serial

#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>

#include <BlynkSimpleEsp8266.h>

#include <DHT.h>

int pirPin = 14;// D5

int pirValue;

int smokeA0 = A0;

int sensorThres = 450;

int buzzer = D8;

int flame_sensor = D7;

int flame_detected;

char auth[] = BLYNK_AUTH_TOKEN;

char ssid[] = "Airtel-MyWiFi-AMF-311WW-357A";

char pass[] = "17f6b9b0";

#define DHTPIN

DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHTTYPE);

BlynkTimer timer;

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 28

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

void wifi()

Serial.begin(9600);

Blynk.begin(auth, ssid, pass);

Serial.println("Connecting to ");

Serial.println(ssid);

WiFi.begin(ssid, pass); while

(WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED)

{ delay(

500);

Serial.print(".");

Serial.println("");

Serial.println("WiFi connected");

void sendSensor()

{ float h = dht.readHumidity();

float t = dht.readTemperature();

if (isnan(h) || isnan(t))

{ Serial.println("Failed to

read from DHT sensor!");

return;

Blynk.virtualWrite(V5, h);

Blynk.virtualWrite(V6, t);
Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 29
SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Serial.print("Temperature : ");

Serial.print(t);

Serial.print(" Humidity : ");

Serial.println(h);

if(t > 37)

{ digitalWrite(D0,

HIGH);

} else

digitalWrite(D0, LOW);

void pir()

float

moisture_percentage;

moisture_percentage = digitalRead(sensor_pin); moisture_percentage

= !moisture_percentage;

Serial.print("Soil Moisture(in Percentage) = ");

Serial.println(moisture_percentage);

if (moisture_percentage == HIGH)

digitalWrite(D3,HIGH);

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 30

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

else

digitalWrite(D3, LOW);

Blynk.run();

Blynk.virtualWrite(V2, moisture_percentage);

void setup()

{ wifi();

Serial.begin(9600);

Blynk.begin(auth, ssid, pass);

dht.begin(); timer.setInterval(2500L,

sendSensor); pinMode(smokeA0,

INPUT); pinMode(pirPin, INPUT);

pinMode(D0, OUTPUT); pinMode(D3,

OUTPUT); pinMode(D1, OUTPUT);

// fire sensor

pinMode(buzzer, OUTPUT);

pinMode(flame_sensor, INPUT);

void loop() { Blynk.run();

timer.run(); pir(); pirValue =

digitalRead(pirPin);

Blynk.virtualWrite(V0, pirValue);

if (pirValue == HIGH)
Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 31
SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

digitalWrite(D0,HIGH);

else

digitalWrite(D0, LOW); //gas sensor int

analogSensor = analogRead(smokeA0);

Serial.print("Pin A0: ");

Serial.println(analogSensor);

if (analogSensor > sensorThres)

Serial.print("fire alert!!");

Blynk.virtualWrite(V1, analogSensor);

digitalWrite(D1,HIGH);

else

Serial.print("normal ");

Blynk.virtualWrite(V1,LOW);

digitalWrite(D1,LOW);

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 32

SMART WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

// fire sensor flame_detected =

digitalRead(flame_sensor); if

(flame_detected == 1)

Serial.println("Flame detected...! take action immediately.");

digitalWrite(buzzer, HIGH);

Blynk.virtualWrite(V7, HIGH);

else

Serial.println("No flame detected. stay cool");

digitalWrite(buzzer, LOW);

Blynk.virtualWrite(V7, LOW);

Dept. of ECE, VVCE, Mysuru 33