As kids, we’d always imagined that the future would be technologically dependent, everything would be machine controlled and everything would be automatic. With the likes of multiple AI companies, we are definitely inching closer to making that dream a reality. Living by the motto to make this come true, young students atBhartiya Skill Development University, situated in the outskirts of Jaipur, are working on what could be a big part in making the smart city, actually smart. Keeping the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in mind, students at BSDU developed Smart Trash Collector (STC), an automatic dustbin, which would make keeping the surroundings clean, easier.

How it works

The Smart Trash Collector is a track following dustbin, which follows a particular track to collect waste and go back. It moves from point A to point B and further following the track sensors. The STC also has a motion detector and detects the presence of people and opens up automatically to collect trash from them and moves on to other people after collecting the trash. It also senses hand motions above it and opens up and collects waste. The STC has wireless controls and can also be controlled by a handler, wherein if it loses its track or is taken away, it’ll automatically send a message to its handler and can be found following its in-built GPS tracker. THE STC also sends messages automatically when it is full and needs to be emptied.

The creators, first semester students at BSDU, Mayank, Amit, Aman, Pukhraj, and Laxminarayan, from the department of Computing Skills, have already created the prototype and are working towards adding more features to the Smart Trash Collector. The students, working under trainer Ashish Sharma, and Principle Dr. Anurag, are planning to add features like a built-in camera, a mechanical hand/holder, and more sensors to the STC.

Availability

The Smart Trash Collector will be available in three sizes, small, medium and large. The small size dustbin will be available for domestic use, whereas the medium size will be available in 30 liter to 40 liter of size for places like hospitals, schools etc., and the large size will be in 70 liter to 80 liter of size and will be used for industries. The cost for the prototype is Rs 1200, and the estimated pricing for the medium size is Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000, and for the large size it is Rs 12,000 to Rs 15000.

The Smart Trash Collector will be placed in places like metro stations, airports, etc. and will reduce the manpower required to clean waste at such areas. People won’t have to walk across such places, just to find a trash can. In industries, the infrastructure can be created as such that the trash can be collected at a pickup point and the STC can go there and collect it. The Smart Trash Collector will reduce manpower and will also save money that is spent to hire people to collect trash.