intelliTrash

• 

  Machine

• 

  Wiring

intelliTrash

Inspiration and What it does intelliTrash is an automated waste machine which uses vision AI to be able to determine, and sort trash into either recycling, compost, or garbage. This idea was hatched when a teammate found out that a family friend had been disposing of used diapers in recycling, after mistaking a symbol on a recycling poster for a diaper. Another teammate then suggested we use Google's Vision API to be able to detect and categorize certain types of trash. Eventually we came to the conclusion that incorporating automated parts, vision AI, and IoT would allow us to bring our project to life!

How we built it For the hardware component of our hack, we used various GPIO pins on the Raspberry Pi to read out to the push button, and two servos, while using the built in attachment for the Pi Cam. We also built a physical system out of wood, which allows intelliTrash to be automated, and deliver the trash into it's designated bin. After the Pi Cam takes an image, and we used Google Cloud's Vision API to identify what the waste is and where it belongs. Afterwards, our program will rotate the servo motors. Each specific type of rubbish corresponds to a specific angle which the motors turn to. This allows the system to "sort" the trash into Recycling, Compost or Garbage.

Challenges we ran into We learned quite a few things on this journey. Initially, our team struggled trying to connect the Pi to the "UofT" network, as it is considered a hidden network- meaning the Pi doesn't seem to like it. Instead, we ended up using a team member's personal LTE network to hotspot the Pi. We also had initially planned a conveyor system to sort the trash, as opposed to the "rotating" system we have now. We learned that the servos would not be able to support the weight of trash put onto a conveyor. Our team then ventured out, and bought two DC motors. After working for a while, we realized that the DC motors were also incredibly weak. We then needed to change the system in a way, which does not conflict with the physical capabilities of of the servo motors- which is how our "rotating" system was born!

Accomplishments that we are proud of Our team feels incredibly accomplished for being able to work together through these constraints, and be able to create a project which we are all incredibly passionate about in such a limited timeframe. We are also proud that we were all able to come from such different backgrounds and use that as a motive to create a project which encompasses all of our strengths, but also taught us how to work around our weaknesses!

What's next for intelliTrash Next we want to be able to identify the type of plastics to be able to sort it into even more categories such as Plastics, Mixed Paper, Coffee Cups and more. Additionally we would like to use the city location to adhere to their waste rules.

Built With

• google-cloud
• motors
• picam
• python
• raspberry-pi
• servo
• vision-api