RecycleAI

Inspiration

A staggering 91% of plastic goes unrecycled, contributing to environmental pollution and degradation. Additionally, many people are not adequately educated on how to properly dispose of their waste, leading to further mismanagement. These concerning statistics inspired us to develop a solution that leverages AI to encourage proper waste disposal and recycling practices.

What it does

RecycleAI is a user-friendly application that empowers individuals to make informed decisions about waste disposal. Users can simply take a photo of their waste, and RecycleAI utilizes AI algorithms to analyze the image and determine whether the waste is categorized as trash, recycling, or organic material.

How we built it

We built RecycleAI using a combination of Python, Flask, HTML, and CSS. Python was used for the backend logic and for calling the Vertex AI API for image analysis. HTML and CSS were utilized to design the frontend interface for user interaction. Flask served as the middleware to connect the backend and frontend components, facilitating seamless communication between the two.

Challenges we ran into

One of the main challenges we encountered was integrating Flask to establish communication between the backend and frontend components of the application. Additionally, we faced difficulties in properly configuring the Cloud Shell Editor to effectively call the Vertex AI API. We also realized the necessity of having a Google Cloud Project set up for the API to function correctly, which added complexity to the development process.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Despite the challenges we faced, we successfully implemented the functionality to call the Vertex AI API for waste sorting. This accomplishment signifies a significant milestone in the development of RecycleAI.

What we learned

Throughout the development process of RecycleAI, we gained valuable insights into generating text from an image using AI algorithms. Additionally, we deepened our understanding of using Flask, HTML and CSS to create web applications, further expanding our skill set in web development.

What's next for RecycleAI

In the future, we envision expanding RecycleAI into a fully-fledged application accessible on various platforms, including mobile devices. We aim to implement additional features such as a capture setting for enhanced image analysis and provide resources about recycling and sustainability to educate and empower users to adopt eco-friendly practices. As well, we hope to expand the analysis to more types of waste, including spotting the material the object is made of.