Traschbin Management System Using IoT （teamwork）

published on 2020-01-20

Introduce

The system is based on Arduino Nano and ultrasonic sensors to monitor the fullness of the trash cans and to send the collected data to Azure Clould using Rasberry PI with WIFI. The cleaners can know the situation of each trash can at any time through android application. The mobile app get and update the information of each trash can from Azure clould.

Material

Hardware Softwate Programming Language
Arduino Arduino IDE C
Ultrasonic Sensor (HC-SR04) - -
Rasberry PI VNC & Visual Studio Code -
Android Phone Android Studio Java
Zigbee Module - -
Bread Board - -

  • A. Arduino Uno

    It’s a single-board microcontroller, designed to make the application of interactive objects or environments more accessible. Sense the environment by receiving input from variety of sensors.

  • B. Ultrasonic Sensor

    Ultrasonic sensors are used for distance measure using reflection mechanism. As soon as signal is given to the sensor through processing unit, it starts sending waves which reflect back from the waste in garbage bins and received back giving the resultant garbage level.
    Here's how it works:

    1. The transmitter (trigger pin) sends a signal: a high-frequency sound.
    2. When the signal encounters an object, it will be reflected;
    3. Then the transmitter (echo pin) receives the signal

  • C. Rasberry PI

    Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit card sized, computer that performs various applications. Some of its main features include 1GB of RAM, 4 USB Ports, General Purpose Input Output pins, Linux support. These features give programmers a wide range for diverse applications. It is used as gateway in the project.

  • D.Zig bee module

    Zig Bee is an IEEE 802.15.4-based specification for a suite of high-level communication protocols used to create personal area networks with small, low-power digital radios, such as for home automation, medical device data collection, and other low-power low-bandwidth needs, designed for small scale projects which need wireless connection.

Implementation

The framework of the system can be divided into 4 stages:

  1. The Smart Bin: sensor node is mounted on the bin that composed the smart bin. Ultrasonic sensors are used for level measurement of garbage in the bin. Arduino sent the measured data to the gateway through Zig Bee communication.

    • connect Arduino and HC-SR04 sensor:

  2. Gateway: the status of trash cans is collected to IoT gateway through Zigbee receiver module. Then the gateway sends the data and also stores to a remote Azure database.

  3. Cloud Database: a database created in Azure cloud-platform to store information.

  4. User Interface: a android-based graphic user interface is designed to help user see the fullness of each trash can at any time.


    The introduction of the user interface:

    1. Login: it is a login interface. Each cleaner has an account.
    2. Layer Choice: when cleaner successfully logs in to the app, he/she will see the layers in a building they are responsible for.
    3. Plan: if the cleaner chooses one layer in the second step, it will display a floor plan of the selected layer. There is a star for each room on the floor plan, which allows cleaner to see the status of the trash can.
    4. Trash Height: when the cleaner clicks the star, it will access database to get the current height of the garbage. Then the fullness of the trash bin in the room will be displayed to the cleaner.