Project Refill-It

An integrated solution for companies to sell soap refills at a greater profit by reducing packaging costs and for consumers to conveniently recycle plastic waste.

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Inspiration

Worryingly low recycling rates coupled with high plastic waste was what motivated us to tackle a problem specific to disposable soap containers. Being avid followers of eco-friendly practices, we were interested in a solution that encourages consumers to recycle and at the same time, be profitable for producers.

What it does

An automated, cloud-based soap dispensing machine that allows the user to select and dispense a soap of their choice.

How we built it

We created a working prototype for a water dispenser that utilizes an ultrasonic sensor to monitor the distance between a container and the sensor. As liquid is expelled into the container, this height decreases and allows us to keep track of when the container is fully filled and when so, using a motor, stop the flow of water. We also created a prototype for the App that connects this machine to the cloud, in order to display the relevant data to the relevant users.

Challenges we ran into

The lack of certain components as well as accuracy issues led to us facing various problems but we were able to complete the working prototype and re-engineer various missing components we had in order to complete the task as planned.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Having completed a fully working, sensor based, automated water dispenser is something we are extremely proud of.

What we learned

One of the most important lessons we learnt was to improvise with the components we had and re-engineer our way to finishing our project as often we will not be working with the ideal components we plan for. Having to make do with what we have, re-ideate and think out of the box is extremely important and accurate for our success.

What's next

There is a lot of scope for improvement and as a team, we intend to bring this project forward and improve it during our free time. This is a project we all have been extremely passionate about and are really grateful for the guidance received during this hackathon. We aim to bring this project forward in the future and create a fully working prototype for soap as well.

Built With

  • arduino
  • figma
  • numberpad
  • sensor
  • servomotor
  • ultrosonic
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