Mr. Bin

Vision Statement

Have you ever wished you could make recycling easier and funnier?

Mr.Bin is the answer you've been looking for!
Imagine all the people living in your sourroundings recycling and not just a few of them. Mr.Bin is an intelligent system that will help you whenever recycling gets tricky and plus it will make it fun! Mr.Bin can be installed in a private trash bin area, such as inside a condominium or in a little neighbourhood. Mr.Bin is in charge of making garbage collection methodical and tidy.
In order to success in its purpose, it has several features:

It keeps control on who uses the bins in the area it is in charge of: the trash bins stay closed until Mr.Bin decides to open them.
It is able to recognize the users who are authorized to use that trash bins area through a badge.
A badge is assigned to each family (or group of people living in the same house) who live in the area which is under the system’s supervision, so that everyone of them can be identified through a different code;
It is able to understand how much garbage there is in each trash bin by weighting it.
Depending on the sensed weight, it acts in different ways:

If the bin can still be filled, it will show the users a green light and will allow them to throw their trash there if they are authorized to do it;
If the bin is almost full, it will notify the company in charge of collecting the garbage in that area so that they will be able to set up a date to pass and to collect the trash;
If the bin is completely filled up, it will show the users a red light and it won’t allow them to throw their trash (Mr.Bin won’t open the bin). Mr.Bin will show the users the date that has been set up with the company. Moreover it will give them the option of being notified whenever that bin will be emptied.
Whenever a trash bin is emptied, it will make use of a suitable (detergent) spray to sanitize and to refresh the bin, in order not to make the trash bins area smell bad.

Mr.Bin loves interacting with the users and having fun with them! In fact, it will set up a challenge between all the families living in the same condominium/neighbourhood in order to make recycling funnier and more stimulant.
The purpose of the challenge is to show which is the most “sustainable” family, which is to say the one that produces more recycled waste than unrecycled one! Every time a person goes to throw his/her garbage away, Mr.Bin recognizes him/her through the badge and it senses the amount of recycled and unrecycled waste that has been thrown. Then it compares the values and so it calculates the score achieved by that user. So it sets up a chart that will be updated in real time.
The rank will be visible to all the competitors, so that everyone will be able to see his/her position and will try to make it better next time!
Mr.Bin is a friend of the environment as much as he's your friend, so he will not leave you alone during the game! During the week he will give you hints and tips on how to recycle some tricky products and it will inform you whenever your position in the rank changed.

Mr.Bin can’t wait to make the difference in this world and to be part of those who work for a more sustainable future!

AmI main steps

Sensing

The waste bins need to sense the amount of trash by weighting it.
In particular, every trash bin senses the amount of garbage that has just been thrown by the user (we assume there are more than one trash bin in each area), and then all the data receveid by each sensor are collected.
Addictionally, the system senses if the bin is almost or completely full.
Moreover it identifies the user through a badge or a code assigned to each family living in the condominium.

Acting

Mr.Bin keeps track of the weight of each bin so that every time one of them is emptied it makes use of a suitable detergent spray to sanitize and to refresh that bin.
Addictionally, depending on the data received by each trash bin, the system is able to understand if the bin can still be filled (in that case it will turn on a green light) or it cannot (in that other case it will turn on a red light).
The trash bins stay closed until the user shows his/her badge: when the system detects the badge and recognizes the user, if the bin is not completely full yet, it will open the bins, allowing the user to throw his garbage; otherwise, the waste bins will remain closed.

Interacting

When a trash bin is almost full, the system will notify the company or the person in charge of collecting the garbage in that area so that a day can be set up.
Both when a day to collect the garbage is set up and a bin is emptied, Mr.Bin will inform all the users who required that information (for example, users who have not been able to throw their garbage because the bin was full may want to be notified).
Moreover it gives the user weekly tips on how to recycle some products and it notifies him/her whenever his/her position in the rank changed.

Reasoning

The system collects the data received by each trash bin.
For each of them it calculates the volume of the garbage basing its calculus on the sensed weight and on a medium density (we use that algorithm so that lighter trash produced in recycling, such as paper or plastic one, weights on the final score as much as heavier trash, such as composed or unrecycled waste).
Basing on the comparison between recycled waste and unrecycled one, Mr.Bin calculates the score gained by the user, and it updates the chart.

AmI Features

Sensitive

The system responds to changes in its environment:
it senses the weight of each bin;
it understands if a bin is almost or completely full;
it is able to recognize the users.

Responsive

Depending on the amount of garbage sensed in each trash bin, Mr.Bin acts in different ways:
if the trash bin is full, it won't allow the users to throw their garbage there and it will give them the option to be notified when the trash bin is emptied;
if the trash bin is almost full, it will notify the company in charge of collecting the garbage;
if the trash bin can still be filled, it will allow the users to use it.

Adaptive

Mr.Bin will open the trash bins if the user is authorized to use the bins and if the bin can still be filled, then it will close them.
If the trash bins are filled up, it keeps them closed until they are emptied.
It sanitizies and refreshes the empty bins.

Transparent

The system doesn't modify the environment it is installed in.
It doesn't change users' habits, it only helps them to make things easier.

Ubiquitous

The system can be installed in every condominium or neighbourhood.
The users will be the inhabitant of that area.
Potentially, its environment may even be a whole city.

Intelligent

It reasons on the ambient (it collects the data received by the sensors) and it manages the game by calculating the scores, updating the rank and interacting with the users.
Moreover it informs the company in charge of collecting the garbage whenever they are needed to empty the bins:
in that way, it will not make them waste their time because they will reach only the indicated trash bins areas.

Purpose and Scope

The system incentivizes recycling.
Its name is Mr. Bin and it has features related to garbage management for some environments such as condominiums, student residences and resort structures. As for the trash bin area management, it keeps control on who uses the bins: only users are authorized to use them.
The system reminds all the users in a database and it assignes them an unique code through which it can later recognize them. In order to use the trash bins, the users shows his badge so that Mr.Bin can detect it.
The system shows the users which are the empty bins (or not completely full ones) and the full ones through a led: a green light indicates the bin can be used; otherwise, a red one is turned on.
Moreover, the system controls whenever the bins are open or closed: through an electronical and mechanical system, it maintains the garbage bins closed until an authorized user is recognized.
Addictionally, if the bin is filled up (it reasons on the data collected by weight sensors put on each trash bin), the system won’t allow the users to use it (the bin will remain closed).
In that case, it will give him the option of being notified whenever that bin will be emptied.
Whenever a bin is almost full, Mr.Bin will notify the company in charge of collecting the garbage in that area of the city: it will do it through a mobile app connected in real time to the company.
As a consequence the company will set up a day to come and collect the trash.
If the system senses that a bin has been emptied, automatically it will make use of a spray to sanitize it.
In order to stimulate people to recycle, Mr.Bin sets up a challenge between all the users who live in the same condominium/residence/neighbourhood.
The dare is based on a rank on which the score gained by each user is showed.
Every time a user throws his garbage away, it is sensed the amount of waste thrown in each bin: basing its calculus on a medium density for each kind of garbage (plastic, paper etc), the system computes the total volume of the recyled waste and it compares it to the volume of the unrecyled one.
Depending on the value received by that comparison, Mr.Bin assignes the user a score, which is updated every time he throws his trash away.
Whenever the rank is updated and a user’s position changes, he will be notified.
The purpose is to lead people to be more carefull whenever they are about to throw something away.

Mr.Bin

Making recycling easier and funnier

Are you a Developer?

Find out more about our project!

Challenge your neighbours!

The more you recycle the more points you gain.
Find out who is the most "sustainable" person in your condominium or neighbourhood, and then get to the top of the rankings!

Vision Statement

Have you ever wished you could make recycling easier and funnier?