NsInventory

Hardware Inventory System - Complete Integration

🎯 Overview

This is your complete hardware inventory system integrated into your existing Laravel inventory management application. The system adds photo-based scanning capabilities for lab assets while preserving all your existing donation/POS functionality.

✅ What’s Been Implemented

Database Extensions

Models & Controllers

AI Processing System

User Interface

Routes & API

🚀 Installation & Setup

1. Database Migration

# Run the new migrations
php artisan migrate

# The following tables will be created/modified:
# - products (enhanced with lab asset fields)
# - missing_components
# - scanning_sessions  
# - photo_scans

2. Environment Configuration

Add to your .env file:

# OpenAI API for photo processing
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key_here
OPENAI_API_BASE=https://api.openai.com/v1

# Queue configuration (recommended)
QUEUE_CONNECTION=database

# Create queue jobs table
php artisan queue:table
php artisan migrate

# Run queue worker
php artisan queue:work

4. Storage Setup

# Create storage link for uploaded photos
php artisan storage:link

🎯 How It Works

Unified System Architecture

Your Existing System          New Lab Assets
├── Products (donations)  +   ├── Products (lab assets)
├── Orders                    ├── Photo Scanning
├── Purchases                 ├── Missing Components
├── Customers                 ├── Asset Management
└── Suppliers                 └── AI Processing

Photo Scanning Workflow

  1. Device Overview - Full device photo
  2. Serial & Labels - Close-up of stickers/labels
  3. Components - Cables, accessories, peripherals
  4. AI Processing - Automatic information extraction
  5. Review & Save - Verify and create lab asset

AI Processing Features

📱 User Interface

Main Navigation:
├── Dashboard (existing)
├── Products (existing - donations)
├── Lab Assets (NEW)
│   ├── Dashboard
│   ├── All Assets  
│   ├── Photo Scanning
│   └── Add Asset
├── Orders (existing)
├── Purchases (existing)
└── Settings (existing)

Lab Assets Dashboard

Photo Scanning Interface

🔧 Technical Features

Database Design

API Endpoints

Lab Assets:
GET    /lab-assets              # List all assets
GET    /lab-assets/dashboard    # Dashboard data
GET    /lab-assets/create       # Create form
POST   /lab-assets              # Store new asset
GET    /lab-assets/{id}         # View asset
PUT    /lab-assets/{id}         # Update asset
DELETE /lab-assets/{id}         # Delete asset

Scanning API:
POST   /api/scanning/start      # Start scanning session
POST   /api/scanning/upload     # Upload photo
GET    /api/scanning/session/{id} # Get session status
POST   /api/scanning/session/{id}/complete # Complete session

Security Features

💡 Usage Examples

Scanning a Computer

  1. Navigate to Lab Assets → Photo Scanning
  2. Take overview photo of the computer
  3. Capture close-up of serial number stickers
  4. Photo any cables and accessories
  5. Review AI-extracted information
  6. Save as new lab asset

Managing Assets

Integration with Existing System

🔄 Migration from Standalone System

If you were using the standalone hardware inventory system:

Data Migration

# Export data from standalone system
# Import into enhanced products table
# Update relationships and references

Photo Migration

# Copy existing photos to Laravel storage
# Update photo paths in database
# Regenerate thumbnails if needed

🛠️ Customization Options

Adding Custom Fields

  1. Create migration for new fields
  2. Update Product model
  3. Add to forms and views
  4. Update AI processing prompts

Custom Device Types

  1. Add to device type enum
  2. Update AI prompts for new types
  3. Create specific workflows
  4. Add custom validation rules

Integration with Other Systems

📊 Reporting & Analytics

Built-in Reports

Export Options

🔮 Future Enhancements

Planned Features

Scalability Options

🆘 Support & Troubleshooting

Common Issues

  1. Photos not processing - Check OpenAI API key
  2. Camera not working - Use file upload instead
  3. Missing navigation - Clear cache: php artisan cache:clear
  4. Database errors - Run migrations: php artisan migrate

Performance Optimization

📞 Getting Help

Documentation

Debugging

# Check logs
tail -f storage/logs/laravel.log

# Queue status
php artisan queue:work --verbose

# Clear caches
php artisan cache:clear
php artisan config:clear
php artisan view:clear

🎉 Congratulations!

Your inventory management system now has complete photo-based hardware scanning capabilities while maintaining all existing functionality. The system is production-ready and can scale with your needs.

Key Benefits:

Start scanning your lab equipment today! 🚀

This site is open source. Improve this page.