Introduction: SmartBin

Hello everyone , i'm a student at Howest Kortrijk Belgium and I made a project called SmartBin.

It lets you automatically open the bin when you come closer to it.

It measures the weight of the bin and also how full the bin is.

Supplies

-IKEA wastebin

-Raspberry pi

-2 ultrasonic sensors

-1 Loadcell

-1 servo motor

-1 breadboard

-Alot of jumper wires

-Cardboard

-A pair of scissors

-Glue

-

Step 1: Collecting Materials

First of all , you start by buying a bin from IKEA, you can find them everywhere and are really cheap

IoT components (min. € 45 estimated costs):

  • Raspberry Pi 3 Model B +
  • Servo motor SG90
  • 2 x Distance sensor HC-SR04
  • Loadcell HX711 5KG
  • 16x2 LCD display
  • A bunch of cables

Items for the housing (min. € 10 estimated costs):

  • Waste bin from Ikea
  • Pattex Glue
  • Cardboard
  • Spraypaint

Tools used for the project:

  • Visual Studio (front-end development,backend development)
  • PhpMyAdmin(database)
  • scissors
  • glue

Step 2: Find a Piece of Cardboard

then you find a piece of cardboard and place the waste-bin on top of it and cut a big hole in it the size of the waste-bin

Step 3: Cut It

Then cut in half and tape it together with some ducktape. After that you make a tiny hole in the cardboard to fit the servo motor in it and also attach a ultrasonic sensor on the back of the cardboard. Then try to make a small circle with a hole in it of a piece of cardboard, that's for the top of the bin to go up and down , after that attach some string to it and make sure it's attached to the servomotor.

Step 4: Cut Holes

You mark 2 holes around the sensor to cut in it , after that you place the sensor in the 2 holes.

On the bottom also cut 2 holes 1 for the jumper cables of the loadcell and the other one for the charge cable.

Step 5: Hide All Electronics

Now put all the electronics inside the bin and hide it with a rest over piece of cardboard.

Step 6: Attach Velcro Tape

Now attach velcro tape on the bottom of the bin and on the upper-side of the loadcell

Step 7: Electronics

When everything is connected to the cardboard and the wastebin , start making the circuit.

Step 8: Write Code and Create Website

Now that you got your circuit , start building a website and code the functionality's of the smartbin

Step 9: Database Structure

Step 10: Code

https://github.com/howest-mct/1920-1mct-project1-mjoetoe

Step 11: How Did I Proceed?

  • Searched on the internet what kind of project i could make.
  • Thought about what i would need to make it.
  • Bought everything i needed.
  • Made a sketch on paper.
  • Made the circuit and tested every sensor.
  • Attached everything to the waste-bin.
  • Made the frontend (HTML & CSS) and linked it to the backend