IJIRST International Journal for Innovative Research in Science & Technology| Volume 3 | Issue 11 | April 2017

ISSN (online): 2349-6010

Automatic Ration Distribution by using

Raspberry Pi
Miss. Swati V. Birje Mr. Ganesh Kadam
Assistant Professor Student
Department of Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering Department of Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering
RMCET, Ambav (Devrukh), Ratnagiri, India RMCET, Ambav (Devrukh), Ratnagiri, India

Mr. Devkumar Mohite Miss. Vishakha Veldurkar

Student Student
Department of Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering Department of Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering
RMCET, Ambav (Devrukh), Ratnagiri, India RMCET, Ambav (Devrukh), Ratnagiri, India

Mr. Uddesh Jalgaonkar

Student
Department of Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering
RMCET, Ambav (Devrukh), Ratnagiri, India

Abstract
Public distribution system (PDS) i.e. Ration distribution system is the facility provided by the Government of India to ration card
holders for food grains, fuel and other goods, as per the economic policy. Every family has its own ration card. The type of
Ration card depends on annual income of that family. In existing PDS, subsidized food grains like wheat, rice etc. and fuel like
kerosene are issued manually. So there are chances of human errors like wrong entry in register of ration shop about the amount
of food grains given to the ration card holder/user. Similarly unsold food grains at the end of the month, will sale to another users
without any intimation to the government and ration card holders, leads to illegal activity and corruption. To restrict such illegal
activities and corruption we proposed a system called Automatic Ration Distribution by using Raspberry Pi. In this system we
reduced human efforts for distributing food grains by using Raspberry Pi and GSM technology thereby informing each and every
activity to the ration card holder as well as Government. In our approach initially we are scanning QR code on Aadhar card
instead of ration card. Then Raspberry Pi matches the user QR code and OTP for authentication purpose. If user is authenticated
person then he/she will get details of allocated ration on monitor display. Then he/she will purchase the required amount of
ration by entering amount through keyboard. After completion of this process Raspberry Pi will send the information to
government server and user via GSM module.
Keywords: Aadhar Card, GSM, Public Distribution System, Raspberry pi
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

I. INTRODUCTION

Fig. 1.1: Users in queue for purchasing of ration

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Public distribution system in India is the largest ration distribution network which provides subsidized food grains like wheat,
rice, cereals etc. and fuel like kerosene to the ration card holder as per the policy of Government. The goal of ration distribution
system is distribution of ration across the country with proper amount. For achievement of this goal, ration shops are provided to
urban, suburban and rural areas. But this existing system has various drawbacks due to the intervention of human which leads to
illegal selling of ration and corruption. Many times users are unaware of the availability of ration. That is why shopkeeper may
sale ration at higher rates than quoted by the government. Because manpower is the only mean involved in distribution of ration,
this system becomes time consuming. Similarly most of the time users have to wait in queue for purchasing of ration, which is
shown in figure 1.1
So we proposed a system called Automatic Ration distribution using Raspberry Pi.

II. EXISTING PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM IN INDIA

In existing public distribution system of India, lots of work is carried out manually. E.g. Manual entry in ration shop register,
ration card etc. which leads to occurrence of human errors. Similarly there is no any kind of mean to directly convey users
regarding the exact amount of allocated ration from the government end. The information regarding allocated ration as well as
rate of the food grains and other goods is available in the Government portal but not every people residing rural area is familiar
to access web portal, this information will not reach to them. So due to the lack of transparency there are chances of happening
unfair activities. In order to overcome such limitations there should be improvement in such public distribution system so that
ration card holders will get benefited. The figure 2.1 given below shows targeted Public Distribution System Retail price per kg
[1].

Table 2.1: Targeted Public Distribution System Retail price per kg.

As per the survey with a network of more than 4 lakh Fair Price Shops claiming to distribute annually, commodities worth
more than Rs 15,000 crore to about 16 crore families.[2] The table 2.1 shown below indicates food grain allocation in India
under TPDS schemes[3].

Fig. 2.1: chart showing food grain allocation in India under TPDS schemes [2]

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In existing system subsidized food grains are distributed manually in ration shops. Therefore many times there are chances of
human errors to be occurred.

III. PROPOSED SYSTEM

In our proposed system, we are going to remove drawbacks of existing system. This system is user friendly just like an ATM
machine. In our system we used GSM module which is interfaced to Raspberry Pi. It is used to exchange information/message
regarding allocated ration provided by government database and Raspberry Pi. When we start our system, initially message will
be sent to all registered users in the database via GSM module. Here we used SIM900A GSM module. This is compact and
reliable wireless module. The Message consists of allocated ration and OTP for that user. Whenever user is interested to buy
subsidized food grains, scanning of QR code of his/her Aadhar card is done instead of using ration card, for authentication
purpose which is shown below in figure 3.1

Fig. 3.1: Scanning of QR code of Aadhar Card and displaying stored information of user

When we scan Aadhar card it will match with the stored information of user, in the database using Raspberry Pi. This Aadhar
Card is linked with the database of government server as well as to the machine where the user is going to enter the required
amount of ration. Aadhar card and OTP are used for the security purpose. The right side portion of figure 3.1 indicates the
message Enter the password. Here user has to enter OTP as password. This system provides the digital data storage. So it
avoids lots of paper work, and gives the transparency between user and government.
The scanned information of card holder is matched with the already stored details with the help of Raspberry-Pi, for
authentication purpose. Later user will enter password to get details of allocated ration on display. Then user will enter the
required amount of ration through keyboard. Depending upon the requirement of food grains the respective container valve will
open. (E.g. if users are allocated food grains like wheat and rice we have to use two containers.) The valve will remain open until
the weight sensed by weight sensor matches with the entered amount of food grains. Once weight is matched valve will be
closed. This is how user will purchase his/her ration. After completion of this process Raspberry Pi will send the information to
government server and user through GSM module. The proposed system is shown in figure 3.2

Fig. 3.2: Proposed System

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Hardware and Software Used

Our system consist of hardware entities like web camera, Raspberry pi, monitor, keyboard, DC motors, weight sensors,
PC(Server), power supply, GSM module and Mobile. Web camera, keyboard, monitor, motors, weight sensors, GSM module
etc. are interfaced to Raspberry Pi. Therefore Raspberry Pi is heart of our system. Here we used Raspberry Pi 3, which is shown
below in figure 4.1

Fig. 4.1: Raspberry Pi 3

The Raspberry Pi 3 is the third generation Raspberry Pi[4]. It is more flexible than ever, with a boost in processor speed and
extra wireless connectivity. Along with the wireless improvements, the processor has been given a boost, with the Raspberry Pi 3
now featuring a 64-bit, 1.2GHz quad-core Broadcom BCM2837 SoC based on ARM's Cortex-A53 CPU architecture [5]. Web
camera is used to scan QR code of Aadhar card. The scanned information is sent to Raspberry Pi where it is matched with the
stored information of users. When user enters OTP as password, it is matched with the stored OTP by Raspberry Pi. If it matches
then allocated ration will be displayed on the monitor. Keyboard is used to enter the required amount of ration by the user. After
entering the required amount of ration, the respective food grains are placed in the container. DC motors are used for opening
and closing of valves of the container as per the weighing of required amount of ration. Weight sensors are used for sensing the
weight of the ration and to forward this information to Raspberry Pi. Information about users and ration is stored in the database
of server. Finally GSM module is used to send information about purchased ration and remaining ration in the form of message
to users. Also centralized government database will be updated accordingly.
We used softwares like SD formatter, WIN 32, VNC server and Python. SD formatter is used to format SD card. SD Card
Formatter provides quick and easy access to the full capabilities of your SD cards. [6]. SD card is needed to store Operating
System. We used WIN 32 API. Almost all Windows programs interact with the Windows API [7]. In order to facilitate remote
operation of the system we used VNC server. Virtual Network Computing (VNC) is a graphical desktop sharing system that uses
the Remote Frame Buffer protocol (RFB) to remotely control another computer. It transmits the keyboard and mouse events
from one computer to another, relaying the graphical screen updates back in the other direction, over a network [8].
Programming is done by using Python. Python is a powerful programming language with high-level data structure. It is used for
rapid application development in many areas on most of the platforms. It is also suitable as an extension language for
customizable applications [9].

IV. CONCLUSION

In this paper, we explained how existing public/ration distribution system can be improved by using Aadhar card and
technologies like Raspberry Pi and GSM. Our Automatic ration distribution system will help in maintaining the transparency
between users, shop keepers and Government. So it will eliminate the limitations of existing system like illegal activity and
corruption. Automatic approach will also facilitate reduction in paper work.

REFERENCES
[1] http://mahafood.gov.in/website/english/home.aspx
[2] http://epds.nic.in
[3] http://pdsportal.nic.in

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[4] https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-3-model-b/
[5] http://www.alphr.com/raspberry-pi/1002813/raspberry-pi-3-review-a-faster-processor-plus-bluetooth-and-built-in-wi-fi-take
[6] https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_API
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Network_Computing
[9] https://docs.python.org/2.7/

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