Autonomous waste sorter

Project details

School name Royal College Curepipe

Theme Waste Management
Project Title Autonomous waste sorter
Facilitator’s Name Mr Ramesh Trivedsingh
Team members 1. Ghavish Subratty
2. Rowan Dodin
3. Saaim Mauderbaccus
4. Pushkar Surat
5. Siddharth Luchmiah
Table of contents
Innovation tree+ whiteboard thingy
Members
PHASE 1: EMPATHISE
 The questionnaire

To obtain a better idea of what to include in the empathy map, the team set up a questionnaire, with the aim of targeting
people of different age groups. This would ensure that we have enough data to prepare an empathy map and hence,
develop a persona who would help us to actually target different age groups

The questionnaire:
After a day, the google form was closed and the team met again to summarise the
responses
Summary of responses
 Does:
Feels: -
Thinks: Collaboration with a software engineer to develop an app that provides
-Thinks our country is -Feels that municipality engagement could be better.
-Passionate about promoting sustainable living and protecting resources and
at risk and cities information on
are encountering alarming the environment.
-Motivated to find innovative solutions to promote the 9R’s sustainable living practices, wastes reduction and recycling.
waste management issues.
-Despite several waste and make a positive impact on the community.
-Concerned about the recyclable wastes that are -Works to improve the municipality’s
management strategies, the recycling infrastructure and make it more accessible to all
problem is still here and additional going to landfills causing even more pollution
Thinks residents.
and effective measures must be taken. and wastage.
-Thinks besides landfilling and composting -Strong desire to increase the efficiency
of long loops -Host public events and campaigns to raise
of wastes, recycling in Mauritius should be awareness about the importance of recycling and the 9R’s.
promoted in various sectors while considering (Recycle and Recovery).
the 9 R’s. -Initiated the community composting programme,
-Thinks everyone should unite and combat this providing residents with the resources and education needed to
serious waste management issue before matters compost food scraps and yard waste.
eventually worsen.

Empathize
Fears:
Says: -Failing to manage wastes effectively and hence
-“How can I solve this dilemma in the least amount of leading to environmental and health
time without wasting a lot of the city’s resources?” issues for residents and
Hopes:
-“Will I be able to convince the citizens that we damaging- the reputation of the
need to do something about the problem city.
Collaborating with neighboring
regarding waste disposal in the city?” -Running out of landfill
cities, local
-“How can I promote the 9R’s namely – space and having to build
businesses, organizations and
Refuse, Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, new landfills, impacting more
government
Refurbish, Remanufacture,
agencies to develop waste
Repurpose, Recycle and Recover- communities around Mauritius.
to the most amount of people in -Dealing
management solutions.
the least amount of time?”
-Nationwide effort towith increased costs
mitigate
the environmental and
health impacts of waste on associated with waste
local communities.
-Implementing effective waste management management such as
PHASE 2: DEFINE
For this section, the team had a team meeting to discuss about our persona. We then analysed the
needs and demands of our persona to come up with innovative solutions.

Based off of the responses to our questionnaire, the team finalised the persona we believed would
be the most suitable and would indeed target all age groups.
Our persona, a mayor, needs a way to dispose of waste
in the community so that the waste management issue in
his town is handled and the environment is cleaner and
greener.
PHASE 3: IDEATE
Generation of ideas

Ideas were generated through face-to-face team meeting. Each member shared their views and solutions
pertaining to the persona. 4 ideas were introduced and we finalised the idea through a voting session. The
selected idea was then be further developed
The ideas:
1. A waste tracking system that will assign an identifier to track each product from the time it is
manufactured to the time it is discarded.
2. An autonomous planter that will require the user to only fill in seeds, water and organic wastes.
3. A segregation device that will have different sections and will help treat household wastes.
4. A water treatment unit that will be used to treat water at home for reuse.
Selection of idea:

High

Impact/Importance Idea 3 was selected

Low

Feasibility
Easy
Hard
 Brain storming

Brain storming is a crucial part of the ideation phase. It is a creative problem-solving technique that involves
the generation of a number of ideas in a group setting and where issues with the project are discovered and
dealt with. Its aim is to encourage free thinking, stimulate creativity and generate a wide range of ideas without
criticism or judgement.

During a brainstorming session, team members are encouraged to think outside the box and explore
unconventional or innovative solutions. In the initial stages, in our case the ideation process, the focus is on
quantity rather than quality as the aim is to generate as many ideas as possible.

Once we were done with the brainstorm, we debated about the most appropriate amongst the various techniques
to represent our thoughts. Representation techniques include mind-mapping, the Scamper technique, lotus
blossom, sticky notes and idea cards. We decided to go with the Lotus Blossom technique as it is the easiest, yet
most space efficient, ways to represent our thoughts.
 Encourage cleanliness and promote self Use of lights and sounds as Use of images Local businesses such as restaurants, cafes
awareness in all communities feedback mechanism and icons to and retail stores
help user
Treat all kinds Practice identify how
User Target Educational
of waste Purpose maximum Implementatio to correctly Citizens
number of R’s n of techniques experience use unit audience institutions
effectively
in unit to
Instructions on how to
Emphasize on the urgency of treating our promote user
interact with the unit should Local non-profits
waste experience
be included organizations

Unit should Unit should not further User Material

Target Materials should make
have a proper pollute the environment Purpose experience should be cleaning the bin hassle free
colour scheme audience relatively easy
to enable it to to work with to
blend in its Integration Unit should Integration Autonomous Materials achieve Materials Materials
surroundings not, in any used should
way, disrupt
waste sorter intricate
designs.
Material should be easily be able to
Unit should not be made of anyone in its
available and should not be withstand the
limited resources to further surroundings Safety Segregation Maintenance
costly. elements
protect the environment

Identify potential safety hazards A considerable amount of wastes should be

such as sharp edges or exposed Educate Unit should be made of simple parts to ensure
people on treated in a reasonable time period. availability of its parts in case it breaks down
electrical components
how to Separation An accuracy
safely use Unit should Unit should
Warning labels Safety techniques of at least
device Segregation have low Maintenance be cleaned on
or danger signs should not be 90% in
maintenance a regular
costly segregation
costs basis
Structure should be stable with a reasonable Possible separation techniques: Magnetic
load bearing capacity to prevent collapse or sorting, eddy current sorting, air classification, Frequent servicing to improve longevity and
structural failures. NIR spectroscopy reduce production cost
PHASE 4: PROTOTYPE
Our innovative solution to the waste management issue is to design
a waste sorter which is mostly autonomous, if not completely
autonomous. To better illustrate our innovation, the team decided to
use drawings and make a model in the design workshop. Based off
of the model, we will then find possible improvements to make the
design more efficient.
Before starting with the design, we did some research work so as to obtain a better idea of how to
design our unit, whilst maximising its ability to treat all kinds of wastes, and what material we will use
to make the actual unit.

 Global waste generation

With the ever-increasing population, waste generation has been on an increasing trend. According to statista, by 2050,
worldwide municipal solid waste generation, or simply waste consisting of every day items that are discarded by the public,
will reach 3.4 billion metric tons or an increase of around 70%.

To further emphasize on the most common wastes, here are more statistics:
• Paper and paperboard products account for the largest amount,23.1% of all the materials in municipal solid waste
(MSW).
• Food waste is among the top category of materials, estimated at 63.1 million tonnes in 2018.
• E-waste, short for electronic waste, is the fastest growing substance in the world’s waste. There was a rise in global e-
waste volumes to 53.6 million tons in 2019
• Worldwide plastic production was estimated to be around 390.7 million tonnes in 2021, a rise of 4%.
• In the US, around 11.3 million tons of textile waste yearly.

Every second, more than 60 tons of household waste is thrown out and this contributes greatly to the global waste
generation. Thus, our device will be conceived with aim to treat most of the above wastes whilst also considering the 9 R’s .
As mentioned previously, our unit will be primarily used to sort household wastes. This can be a rather complex task given
the wide range of materials that can me generated, such as plastics, glass, paper and organic wastes amongst others. Although
it will be difficult to make a system that is 100% accurate, with our unit, we will aim at 90% accuracy. We conducted
research on some separation techniques to have a better idea of what we could include.

 Existent segregation techniques

1. Optical sorting:This method uses sensors and cameras to identify and sort different types of materials
based on the colour, shape and other physical properties.
2. Magnetic sorting: This method uses magnetic fields to sort magnetic materials, such as iron and steel, from
not magnetic material.
3. Eddy current sorting: This method uses eddy currents to sort non-ferrous metal, such as aluminium and
copper, from other materials.
4. Air classification: This method uses air streams to separate lightweight materials, such as paper and
plastic, from heavier materials, such as glass and metal.
5. Near-infrared(NIR) spectroscopy: This method uses light in the near infrared spectrum to identify and sort
different types of plastic and other materials.

We have decided to include hatches ,at the back of the unit, which would enable anyone to whom
the wastes could be useful, such as local recycling businesses and handcrafters, to access the
desired materials. The materials could then be repurposed to make decorative items amongst
others, as shown on the following slides.
Examples of repurposed items:

Repurposed bottles

These old plastic bottles

have been repurposed. With
the required handicraft, as
shown in the pictures, they
can be used to make both
useful and aesthetic
decorative items.
Reused textiles

Just like the used bottles, old textiles can

be reused to make useful and appealing
products. They can also be processed
again to obtain the primary material.
Reused books

Although many might find books

boring, they can be repurposed, given
that we have the required skills to
transform them.
  Materials
Since we will be making a model and not the final product, we did further research to select materials which are relatively
easy to work with and would present our unit, both clearly and aesthetically.

Material Strength Durability Weight Cost Ease of Use Overall Rating

Wood High High Medium Medium Easy Excellent
Aluminium High High Low High Easy Very Good
Alucobond High High Low Medium Easy Excellent
Cardboard Low Low Low Low Easy Poor
Steel Tube High High High High Difficult Good

Based on the above table, the ratings for the different materials are as follows:

Wood: Because of its excellent strength and durability, medium weight, and simplicity of use, wood is a highly ranked
material. It is also reasonably affordable, making it a good choice for producing models.

Aluminium: Aluminium is quite a highly rated material due to its high strength and durability and low weight.
However, it is quite expensive and difficult to work with, making it less favourable for creating models.

Alucobond: Alucobond is a highly regarded material because of its great strength and durability, low weight, and
convenience. Additionally, as it is easy to work with and less expensive than aluminium sheets, it is a better material to
make the model.
Cardboard: Due to its low strength and durability, low weight, and low cost, cardboard is a poor-rated material. While
it is simple to use, it is not appropriate for making models requiring durability and strength.

Steel Tube: Steel tube is a medium-rated material due to its excellent strength and durability, as well as its weight and
expense. However, it is more difficult to use, making it less suitable for model creation than the other materials.

 Selection of separation techniques and materials

After our research, the team decided on what segregation technique to implement so as to maximise
sorting accuracy, whilst also not costing a lot, and materials to use for the model that would best
represent our final unit.

Selected segregation techniques:

1, Magnetic sorting
2, Air classification
3, Manual separation by users for wastes like paper, bottles and organic waste.

Materials selected:
1, Wood will be used to make the structure of the model.
2, Alucobond will be used for the exterior of the model so as to properly showcase the aesthetics of the final unit.
 Posters

To ensure that no one has any issue using our unit, we decided to implement four posters on which there will
be guidelines. We also designed another one which will encourage recycling and will be put on the side of the
machine and could also be distributed.
Poster 1: Poster 2:

The aim of this poster is to instruct This poster will indicate

future users to only put metals and users where to throw
plastics in the main compartment their paper wastes
for sorting.
 Poster 5:
Poster 3: Poster 4:

This poster will indicate Lastly, this poster will

users where to throw all
their used bottles.
indicate users where to
throw organic wastes for
composting. This poster will be found
on the side of the unit but
could also be distributed
as a pamphlet.
  Our innovation
Planting area: This will allow users to use the compost
The overall size of the device
Width:1300mm Poster 1
Length:1500mm
Height:500 mm. Main compartment where
metals and plastics will be
Poster 3 separated

Poster 4
Paper waste will be stored in a
Organic wastes will have to be compartment behind this lid
put in this compartment for
composting. The compartment
will be airtight to prevent any
odour from getting out. Poster 2

Bottles will be stored in this compartment

We believe that the separation of wastes as shown above, that is each material in its specific compartment, will
encourage people to sort their wastes at home itself before coming to our device and eventually practice the 9 R’s.
 Segregation mechanism in main compartment

Arm with rubber end

Tray for magnetic metal
Conveyor belt with magnetic strips
Magnetic strips

Fans to blow plastic

off of primary belt

Tray for plastic

Primary belt where waste
all waste(metals and
plastic) will be

Fan to blow plastic

to the back of
compartment

Compartment to store Tray for non-magnetic

paper waste metals
  ILLUSTRATION OF THE MAKING PROCESS

Wednesday
3/05/2023
• We started
assembling the
structure in the
school workshop
after cutting all the
wood

Thursday
4/05/2023
• We cut the
alucobond panels
and attached them
to the main
structure
 ILLUSTRATION OF THE MAKING PROCESS

Friday
5/05/2023
• We added the
remaining panels
and added the
finishing touches
 Improvements
After making the model, the team talked about possible improvements that could be implement in the final unit.

Improvement 1:

A see through compartment will be added. There will be 2 parts-One

part will be used to store old books and the other old clothes. Should
anyone in need pass by the unit, the latter could reuse the old books or
textiles.

Examples: 1- A homeless person with no clothes

2- A child whose parents cannot afford
books
Improvement 2:
An additional compartment will be
added to store wastes that cannot be
recycled, such as diapers, used tissue
papers. The compartment will be
detachable for easy collection by
dustmen.
Improvement 3:
Another area could be added for planting
and hence, using the compost. The area
will be made the same way as the first
planting area.
FEEDBACK+ SAME AS OMNI;