Lesson 5 - Self-Scan Shopping: Smart Checkout Station
Challenge 5-1, 5-2, 5-3
Suggested time: 60 minutes. For younger students or first-time users, this lesson may be extended to 70-80 minutes.
Students build a smart checkout station, explore the information carried by QR codes.
I can explain that QR codes carry machine-readable information.
I can explain how QR codes match product information.
I can design and add new products to a smart checkout station.
Engage
3 min.
A self-checkout station needs product information before it can show a name or price. Stores often use machine-readable codes to connect physical products with digital information.
How can a checkout station quickly find information about a product?
Background
5 min.
Product names, numbers, prices, and descriptions must be represented in a form that a machine can read. In this lesson, each product QR code or barcode carries product information.
The K10 reads the encoded text in QR; it does not recognize the product from its appearance. The program then compares the text with a prepared rule and displays product information and a price.
Students first test what the station can read, then explain how QR code data becomes useful information, and finally create new product mappings.
Let’s build the smart checkout station and try the function.
Required items:
| Item | Use in this lesson |
|---|---|
| UNIHIKER K10 | Reads QR codes with the camera and displays product information on the screen. |
| USB cable and computer with Mind+ | Uploads, runs, and edits the starter program. |
| Smart Checkout Station building blocks | Build the checkout station structure. |
Product and example QR code cards
 | Provide product names and examples. |
pic materials folder
| Provides product-card images or lets students create their own. |
Build and Connect
15 min.
| Follow the Building Instruction to build the station. Keep this step focused on assembly and a stable scanning area. |
| Use Challenge Card page 1 to position the K10 and cards. Upload starter program.mpcode. Check the full QR code is visible before testing. |
Then the teacher can ask:
• Can the camera see the whole QR code?
• What could make a QR code difficult to read?
• What should we test once the station is ready?
Explore Function
7 min.
Challenge 5-1: Explore the Information in QR Codes
| Have students scan Apple and another product card. Ask what information was read and whether a price appeared. Do not explain the matching rule before students record evidence. |
| Ask students to share their discovery and complete the underline content. Expected idea: a readable QR code still needs a matching program rule to produce a product result. Transition: Why does Apple display a price while another code does not? |
NOTE:
• Keep the starter program unchanged during this activity. Students need to separate reading QR code data from displaying a programmed product result.
• Prepare at least one other product QR code.
After testing, discuss these questions:
• What did the station read from the Apple QR code?
• Did the other QR code carry the same information?
Explore AI Technology
12 min.
Challenge 5-2: Turn QR Code Data into Product Information
| Guide students to read the program and think about three stages: QR code data -> program rule -> product result. Explain QR codes as two-dimensional machine-readable representations. Examples include product names, introductions, website addresses, contact details, tickets, and service links. |
| Ask whether the camera recognizes the apple itself. Expected answer: it reads encoded QR code data. |
And than introduce barcodes as another common machine-readable code in stores and logistics. A barcode commonly carries a short identifier used to look up product information.
Introduce the key technology.
QR codes and barcodes are machine-readable ways to represent information. The code carries data; the device and program decide how to use it.
• QR code: a square pattern that can encode text, identifiers, introductions, website addresses, contact details, tickets, or service links.
• Everyday examples: a museum QR code may provide an exhibit introduction, while a restaurant QR code may provide a menu website.
• Barcode: parallel bars commonly used on retail products, inventory, and logistics. A barcode often provides a short identifier that a system uses to look up product information.
• In this lesson, the QR code carries Apple. The program checks whether the scanned text equals Apple and then displays the prepared product information and price.
Definition
• QR Code
A QR code is a square code composed of black-and-white patterns arranged by rules. It stores data and symbolic information in binary form. In a single small block, black dots are 1 and blank areas are 0. When many black and white dots combine, they can express complex binary information.
Also, apart from data content, QR codes have "return"-shaped positioning markers at three corners to help scanning devices quickly identify direction and position.
• Barcode - a one-dimensional pattern of parallel bars commonly used to represent a short product or inventory identifier.
Program Challenge
13 min.
Challenge 5-3: Create a New Product for the Checkout Station
| Students choose or create at least three product cards and plan product name, QR code text, image, and price. Remind them that QR code text and program matching text must be identical, including capitalization. |
| Students use the Apple branch as a structural example, not the completed final program. Test each new product, Apple, and an unknown QR code. Debug in this order: QR readability -> matching text -> imported image -> connected rule. |
Summary - Key AI Ideas Review
3 min.
Summarize with students:
• A QR code can carry product names, identifiers, introductions, website addresses, and other machine-readable information.
• Reading QR code data and using that data are different steps. A program rule is needed to produce a product result.
• A working product mapping connects matching text, a product-card image, and a price.
AI Program Block Review
| Blocks | Description |
|---|---|
 | Checks whether the camera has detected a readable QR code. |
 | Reads and returns the information encoded in the QR code. |
 | Stores the scanned text so the program can use it in a rule. |
 | Compares the scanned text with a prepared product name such as Apple. |
  | Loads and displays the prepared product-card image and price. |
 | Adds the matched product price to the internal total variable. |
Current Tutorial: Click Here
lesson5 pic materials.zip 
