bigguy

Hey yall. I'm in a Cmputer club/class called EASTlab. We have to make a a project in w/e we decided to leanr. Since ive been doing VB6 for some time now, I decided to make a project in VB6. Problem is cant think of anything. It is supposed to help the community and benefit teh school (hopefully). So far the only thing i can think of is a Resturant Self Order system. but i dont really like that idea yet because i have to have it done by Feb 28 for a convention. I cant think of anything to make so any ideas are helpful. Thanks a bunch yall.

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Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heal that has crushed it. - Mark Twain

Destruction leads to a very rough road, but it also breeds creation.

Infinite Recursion

Where are you from?

Anyhow... How about a generic knowledge base? Broad range of use... Mechanics can use it to diagnose automobile issues, could be used to diagnose medical ailments prior to going to the doctor, forresters could use it for tree identification, restaurants could use it for "secret sauces", etc.

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http://jasonpowers.net

"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root."

Infinite Recursion

Where are you from?

Anyhow... How about a generic knowledge base? Broad range of use... Mechanics can use it to diagnose automobile issues, could be used to diagnose medical ailments prior to going to the doctor, forresters could use it for tree identification, restaurants could use it for "secret sauces", administrators/programmers could use it for a how-to or a basic knowledge archive, etc.

__________________
http://jasonpowers.net

"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root."

bigguy

Ok Thanks infinite, btw I am from arkansas. This is what I was thining of. A Resturant Self Order System. Monitors r placed ateach table and they can pick what they want. it then shows up on a monitor in the kitchen, kinda like a fast food place but this is for nice resursants. Problems are some people might not like it becasue the plan was only seeing the waiter/waitress when they brought there to you. I also think this could get very expensive monitors for each table and everything is alot. But I may go ahead and try you idea. If you would like to help me with the other project or something let me know ill use all i can get cause that wouold be alot of coding, with databses, admin rights and everything. But thanks for the idea i'm gonna mull over it till i can make a decison.

__________________
Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heal that has crushed it. - Mark Twain

Destruction leads to a very rough road, but it also breeds creation.

lectricpharaoh

Interestingly enough, this sounds similar to a project a group of mine did for a class a few semesters ago. The idea was to have touch screens at each table, and the customers could place their orders from those screens, as well as use them for entertainment (web browsing, simple games, watching TV), with the entertainment features being 'unlocked' for a variable amount of time depending on the menu items ordered (you could also order plain time). Obviously, we didn't do the TV functionality, but we did the menu database, complete with descriptions and pictures for each item, and the web browsing (just spawned a browser process, so that was easy).

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A man's knowledge is like an expanding sphere, the surface corresponding to the boundary between the known and the unknown. As the sphere grows, so does its surface; the more a man learns, the more he realizes how much he does not know. Hence, the most ignorant man thinks he knows it all. - L. Sprague de Camp

DaWei

I'm a redneck bubba, myself, from the state just to the southwest of you. If you are anticipating a professional career, I would recommend that you learn to distinguish good grammar, spelling, and vocabulary from your everyday use of the language. Apply the one professionally and use the other jocularly or in everyday conversation with your friends and acquaintances. Just a thought, mind you.

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bigguy

Thanks Dawei, i try to type good, but every now and then i get in a hurry, and just go key crazy. But i actually talk better than i can type, so thats good. The one thing i have trouble with is writing not so good at that. But anyway, lectricpharoh, I need to ask you a few questions.

1. How much do you think 15 tables would cost to do something like this. Consider 1 montior for each table, now I dont think the business would want to spend alot of money on this. So it would need to have a harddrive, CDrom drive, USB for touchscreen, and a NIC to connect to server in kitchen. I'm not sure if this is right but I dont know of any monitors that do this. But anyway if you know of any it would help. At least I think they would all need all that stuff - HDD to store OS on to install Windows on since im doing it in vb6, CD-Rom drive to install stuff, USB for the touch screen, and a NIC to connect to server. Am I missing anything?

2.Did you make it where they could pay at the table with Credit Card and if so. How?

3.How long did your project take.

4.Are there many things on the market like this?


Thanks for your time. Oh yeah Dawei, look I kinda took my time on this one. WOOT WOOT (Y).And If your talking about that you are from Textas, where you from down there. Me and some buddies are planning on coming down there for spring break and we need some Lady Lookout points, so suggest us a few if you dont care.

P.S. Preferabkly not the Senior Citizen Center. lol, im just playijng with you.

__________________
Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heal that has crushed it. - Mark Twain

Destruction leads to a very rough road, but it also breeds creation.

Infinite Recursion

bigguy: The reason I asked where you were from is due to your usage of "yall". I'm from Mississippi... not too many southerners around here.

Anyhow, if you are interested in the Knowledge Base idea, I could help you out... I wrote a KB in C#-MySQL and PL/SQL-Oracle.

The restaurant concept must be a widespread idea. During my senior year in college we had a guy do this as his senior project. You may be able to go wireless using PDAs (cheap palm pilots) connected to the central server in the kitchen. Keep in mind though, you may encounter clients with bad vision or someone who prefers human interaction. (Could also be useful in your defense about machines replacing people).

__________________
http://jasonpowers.net

"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root."

DaWei

I'm in NY now, so I can't treat you to a drink. South Padre is your best spring-break place, but it's about lebenty-zillion miles from Arkansas. From Texarkana to South Padre is probably the longest dimension of the state. In Dallas, go up to the suburb of Addison and scope out the places along Belt Line road. There are noooooooo "senior citizen" joints up there, either . When you go through Texarkana, stop at Cattleman's and have some calf-fries. Ummm ummm good!

__________________
Abstraction doesn't make it impossible to write bad code; it makes it possible to write superior code.
Contributor's Corner: Grumpy on C++ Exceptions DaWei on Pointers

MBirchmeier

Can I make a few suggestions?

If you need to have this ready by tuesday the 28th that's not much time... have you considered making a prototype or demonstration rather than the real thing?

You'd only need two computers (a kitchen computer and a table computer), the table computer could simulate multiple tables (say a screen of 4 tables) to simulate a small diner. I wouldn't focus on full functionality in 2 weeks (aka a full menu, the ability to remove an item) unless you have time, just get the bases covered.

Just from a userfriendly point of view I'd make very large buttons, with pictures (if possible) and multiple menu levels (aka select salad and get choices for caesar, side, house, etc.) If you need a good example for a UI like this go to a grocery store with a self checkout and try to buy a mango, or some other odd produce item, you have to traverse a few menus and you'll get a good idea for what you like and what you don't.

-MBirchmeier