Squirrel

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  Paper cups? Recyclable!

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  Compostable, but don't waste a good banana!

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  Leftovers are definitely compostable!

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  Plastic cups should be recycled!

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  yum, some good oreos

Inspiration

Recycling is a simple habit that goes a long way in saving the environment. Too many times have our team members stood in front of the recycling bins, with trash in hand, discussing amongst ourselves which bin each item belongs to. Many individuals, like us, struggle with recycling confusion. Therefore, we came up with Squirrel to overcome this!

What it does

Squirrel makes sorting trash more convenient (and accurate!) by eliminating any recycling ambiguity. Just point at your trash and Squirrel will tell you which bin it belongs to! It is eco-friendly and encourages recycling.

How we built it

• Real time image classification developed using Apple’s ML Kit.
• Process data taken from the video stream of the device’s camera.

Challenges we ran into

Looking for clean and usable datasets of more niche items like food wrappers, mixed paper and styrofoam.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

• Creating a working MVP in just two days!! :D
• Low-code no-code, fewer than 200 lines of code!

What we learned

• To use various Apple frameworks like ML Kit, SwiftUI and Vision to develop an iOS application.
• Design a clean and user-friendly app interface.

What's next for Squirrel

• Expand and improve the classification model so that it classifies wastes into all four waste categories, landfill, bottles & glass, compost and mixed-paper.
• Incorporate a map using MapKit that locates nearby public recycling bins. It would also point out eateries/cafés that support sustainable solutions through eco-friendly habits like the use of compostable cups and reusable shopping bags.

Installation

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/jinweiwong/Squirrel.git
# Run the app on Xcode 13 and newer. 

Built With

• mlkit
• swiftui
• vision