Segregation of waste using sensors

SEGREGATION OF PLASTICS AND METALS FROM WASTE

Why don't you have a look at this video first:

Now, Lets have a look at how it's done

INTRODUCTION:

India’s garbage generation stands at 0.2 to 0.6 kilograms of garbage per head per day. Segregation at source is crucial for clean cities. India’s per capita waste generation is so high, that it creates a crisis if the garbage collector doesn’t visit a neighbourhood for a couple of days. Improper waste disposal 

causes problems that cause degradation of the environment.

Waste has been piling up in many dumping grounds all over India. Most of this waste is in mixed form and hence cannot be disposed off effectively. The most commonly used waste handling techniques are burning of waste or using it as landfill.The waste is not subjected to recycling, composting, or any other form of environmental treatment. Hazardous toxic wastes lie side by side with the organic wastes in the landfill. 

It should be imperative on the part of municipalities to separate the biodegradable from non-biodegradable waste. Biodegradable wastes can then be subjected to composting. Wastes like plastic, metal, paper etc can also be subjected to recycling. In some ways, the waste can actually serve as a resource. By separating waste into different categories we can implement processes that will lead to effective resource utilization. This could be implemented at individual as well as society level.

PROPOSED SOLUTION:

The proposed system makes use of sensors to identify incoming objects. Inductive sensors are used to detect metallic objects. Capacitive sensors are used to detect plastics and glass and disposable objects. They are adjusted to sense only disposable objects. Ultrasonic sensors are used to detect the presence of non-transparent objects within the system. Arduino MEGA microcontroller is used to process the outputs from the sensors. Based on sensor outputs, the microcontroller provides control signals in the form of steps to a stepper motor. Depending on the number of steps the motor rotates by a specific angle and aligns itself below the sensing plate. After that the object is dropped into its corresponding bin. Hence plastics and metals will be separated from disposable objects.

REQUIREMENTS:

Microcontroller:

Arduino Mega (ATmega1280):

Hardware required for sensing

Ultrasonic Sensor

Capacitive proximity sensor

Inductive proximity sensor

Hardware required for electrical isolation

-          Optocoupler PC 817

Hardware required for segregation

Bipolar stepper motor

DC Geared Motor

Software Requirements

-          Arduino IDE


BASIC WORKING AND COMPONENTS:

The project mainly consists of the following modules:

1.      Translation mechanism for input

2.      Sensing module

3.      Separation Module

·         The waste that is given as an input to the system will pass through a translation mechanism which will transfer it to the sensing module. The translation mechanism used here is a hopper. The hopper allows one object to enter at a time. It consists of a container that is attached to stepper motor. The container has only one inlet and it is sealed elsewhere. Hence only one object is allowed to enter the container. Once the object has entered the hopper rotates by 144 degrees (80 steps) causing the object to fall on the sensing plate.

Model for hopper

·         The sensors have a limited range for giving their output. The sensing plate is kept inclined and is used to pass the waste to the sensing module so that it comes within the range of all the sensors.

·         The sensing module consists of a plate which is surrounded by the 3 types of proximity sensors viz. Ultrasonic, Inductive and Capacitive. The sensing plate is attached to a dc geared motor. On rotation of that motor, the object will be dropped down. The motor is given supply through the motor driver L293D IC and its rotation is controlled through 2 digital pins of arduino microcontroller.

 Model for sensing plate

 Arrangement of sensors

·         Below the sensing module is the separation module. This is implemented using a bipolar stepper motor. The output of the sensing module is sent to the input pins of the Arduino. Using the logic table (Table 1) the type of waste is identified and a step value is sent to the stepper motor. The step values are such that the motor rotates in multiples of 120 degrees. There are waste storing bags attached to an armature that is fixed on the stepper motor. The armature rotates in clockwise and anti-clockwise direction depending on the output from the sensors.

 Model for separation module

LOGIC FOR SEPARATION:

  TESTING:

Testing is crucial for identifying the efficiency and accuracy of a system. For the testing of the system, various materials found in waste were used. Some of the materials that were used for testing were as follows:

Object as an input	Object identified as
Metal can	Metallic
Metal pieces	Metal
Plastic bottles	Plastic
Plastic containers	Plastic
Wood	Disposable
Apple	Disposable
Banana peel	Disposable
Handkerchief	Disposable
Hybrid object  having metal and plastic	Metallic
Pen	Plastic

Lets look at another demo video:

REFERENCES:

[1]   Torres-García, Andrés, Rodea-Aragón, Oscar, Longoria-Gandara, Omar Sánchez-García, Francisco, & Gonzalez-Jimenez, Luis Enrique. (2015). Intelligent Waste Separator. Computación y Sistemas , 19 (3), 487-500. Retrieved on November 6, 2016

[2]   M.K.Pushpa, Aayushi Gupta, Shariq Mohammed Shaikh, Stuti Jha, Suchitra V. Microcontroller Based Automatic Waste Segregator. International Journal of Innovative Research in Electrical, Electronics, Instrumentation and Control engineering vol. 3, issue 5, may 2015

[3]   Alvaro Salmador, Javier Pérez Cid, Ignacio Rodríguez Novelle. Intelligent Garbage Classifier. International Journal of Interactive Multimedia and Artificial Intelligence, Vol. 1, Nº 1, ISSN 1989-1660

[4]   https://www.futureelectronics.com/en/Microcontrollers/microcontrollers.aspx

[5]   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcontroller

[6]   https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/arduinoBoardMega

[7]   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductive_sensor

[8]   http://sensorwiki.org/doku.php/sensors/ultrasound

[9]   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepper_motor