Recyclace, conceptualised as part of 03.007 Design Thinking and Innovation, is an adaptable and dynamic solution to tackle waste management in this ever-changing environment.

Users can scan the barcode labels found on their waste at the barcode scanner and the corresponding LED strip on the corresponding compartment will light up. When the barcode is scanned, Recyclace will search its database to check the waste classification. After classification, the corresponding LED strip will blink.

As the bin fills up, a time-of-flight sensor will collect data on the status of the bin. When the bin is filled, cleaners will remove the bags of waste from the bin before turning the keylock switch. This will activate the optimisation of compartments, where stepper motors will adjust the dividing compartments to change the volume of the compartments. After optimisation, cleaners will be able to attach new plastic linings to the compartments. With such a mechanism, the bin will optimise over time, reducing the cleaning frequency and increasing the efficiency of recycling.

Software

The software of Recyclace was designed to run on a Raspberry Pi Zero. When designing the software for Recyclace, I quickly ran into a problem: multiple tasks had to be running at the same time. For example, the barcode scanner would continuously have to be listening for scans while the time-of-flight sensor would have to take measurements at fixed intervals and the key-switch would have to be continuously monitored to determine if the compartments should be moved.

This led me to explore Python threading, something I heard of but have never actually explored. Individual threads were created for each task, allowing Recyclace to function as designed.

Running on a Raspberry Pi Zero allows for easy access via SSH to make changes and run the code.

SOLIDWORKS

This projects also led me to explore with rendering animations in SOLIDWORKS. You can view the animated render below.

For more details, you can view the github repo here: github.com/iangohy/03.007_Design-Thinking-and-Innovation