Smart College Equipment Tracking System: A QR Code-Based Web Platform for Laboratory Asset Management

Colleges manage hundreds of laboratory components, project kits, and devices across several departments, yet most still record issue and return in paper logbooks. This leads to misplaced equipment, entry errors, overdue items, and no real-time view of where an item is. This paper proposes the Smart College Equipment Tracking System, a web-based platform that digitises the full equipment life cycle. Each asset carries a unique QR code. A lab assistant scans the code to issue or receive the item, and the database is updated at once with the borrower, the due date, and the condition of the item. The design uses a React front end, a Node.js or Python (Django/Flask) back end with a REST API, and a MySQL or PostgreSQL database that can be hosted on a cloud platform such as AWS. Role-based access separates Admin, Staff, and Student users, and the system also provides due-date notifications, ratings and feedback, audit logs, and reports. The system is organised into five modules: homepage, admin panel, lab assistant panel, student panel, and database. The paper presents the architecture, methodology, database design, and planned evaluation of the system.