Solid Waste Management

Project Abstract / Summary : Solid waste management is a great problem in our country. There are no proper technologies are present to handle this problem.
Significance of our project is using such a robot which wouldn’t only help to recycle waste, but would be able to do so in an environment that often times is hazardous to human, animals due to the presence of toxic.
Seeing the wastes nearby at our place is the motivation behind our project.

Approach towards solving the problem

As many wastes is being generated in our society so for simplification we have distributed the wastes in three different categories.
TYPE OF WASTES SENSORS USED

1)Organic Waste – Kitchen waste (Methane CNG Gas Sensor -MQ-4 )

2)Recyclable Waste
->Glass -IR Reflective Sensor
-> Plastics -SM31EPD for transparent plastics from MINI BEAM clear plastic detection system
->Metals -Inductive Sensor

3)Toxic Waste-old medicine , paints ,chemicals ,pesticides through Odour (smell).

After collecting the garbage materials it will go to the waste sorting industry where the materials will be sorted out. Waste materials are passed through a conveyor belt where the robot will pick and place in different cabins. Organic waste will be in one cabin, toxic waste in another cabin while different recyclable waste will be placed in different cabin.


STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT-


MECHANICAL— A robust gripper will be designed that can handle multiple shapes and sizes objects. The structure of the robot is constructed using aluminium(light weight ,no corrosion and strong).There are two main parts of this robot; the main base which holding main pillar which holding robot arm; and robot arm which holding the adjustable gripper.

ELECTRONICS-
Sensors will detect different object based on their sensing properties .If different materials are present in one waste then it will be separated based on their quantities present and according to that it will be classified ,or if quantities are same then it will be based on the priority which will be done by using priority encoder.photoelectric sensor will detect the size of the object .Microcontroller will receive the feedback and in turn will control the servo motors by PWM signals .

Challenges- Different types of wastes are being produced so separating them requires larger and complex programming.

There are different categories of a simple material say plastics so separating them is itself a great challenge.

Why did you choose to work on this project topic : Solid waste management is a great problem in our country. There are no proper technologies are present to handle this problem.
In many cities , uncontrolled and poorly managed dumping is commonly practiced, giving rise to serious environmental degradation. More than 90% of MSW in cities and towns are directly disposed of on land in an unsatisfactory manner. So we plan to solve this problem by using technology .Because if the waste is left unattended, it will tend to decompose by natural process giving rise to odors, hosting and feeding a variety of insects, which in turn, form the carriers of disease creating severe health problems.Seeing the wastes nearby at our place is the motivation behind our project.

Project Highlights : As Municipal Corporation handles these wastes but there is no proper way of separation and these wastes are directly disposed on land. Rate of work is slow comparison to today’s rate of dumping. Very less people are recruited for this job.
Significance of our project is using such a robot which wouldn’t only help to recycle waste, but would be able to do so in an environment that often times is hazardous to human, animals due to the presence of toxic. Using robot technology we will achieve maximum efficiency in terms of human power,time and will get desired output.So my idea helps to give a better direction towards solid waste management .This is why my project should win this contest.


Project Category : Robotics / RC / Automation
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Institute/College Name: NIT Rourkela
City: Rourkela
State: Odisha
Participating Team From: Third Year