Summary
‘Bintel’ is an
innovative urban waste management system that aims to improve the liveability,
attractiveness, efficiency, and environmental management of the city and its
services. Developed in line with a re-imagination of urban areas’ pre-existing
infrastructure, ‘Bintel’ provides potential administrations with an opportunity
to increase their influence throughout the city more efficiently and
cost-effectively through the use of low-cost sensors.
Full Description
Re-invigorating one of urban administrations most
resource-intensive initiatives, ‘Bintel’ aims to provide decision makers with
context and location specific information in real time analysis of city life. ‘Bintel’
is another component of an increasingly wider constellation of instrumented
devices, often developed under the remit of the wider smart city agenda. The embedding
of low cost sensors into previously ‘unconnected’ devices aims to provide
councils with additional sources of big data. Utilising both the hardware and
software provided by both Intel and IBM at this event, this service provides
prospective councils with an opportunity to govern in a dynamic manner while simultaneously
seeks to make cities cleaner, safer, efficient, and more connected. By alerting
prospective councils’ attention to imminent environmental and infrastructural
concerns this form of technology aims to optimise the management of waste
collection routes. Moreover, this managerial optimisation seeks to reduce both
fuel and labourcosts along more environmentally supportive rationales.
Accordingly, this data may be correlated with the city’s various other datasets
in order to create a more contextually contingent visualisation of the city
from a wider perspective. The smart design of the product's hardware allows for both the replication of the product on a wider scale and for the simple installation of the product within the confines of a bin's interior.
The primary aim of ‘Bintel’ is to address existing issues by
retrofitting already existing mediums like the vast array of bins that are
dotted around the city’s various neighbourhoods. The neat nature of the product's hardware, produced within the confines of the hackathon, aids this aim wholeheartedly. In the digitally enhanced
streetscapes of modern cities this initiative seeks to provide self-powered,
energy efficient, ubiquitous, and low cost sensors in comparison to
contemporary private models whose pricing plans differ dramatically.
Where we are now
Since the conclusion of the hackathon our team has
continuously tried to improve upon the prototype created at the event.
Improvements have been undertaken with regard to both the hardware and software of the product. Subsequent developments prior to the event have echoed the suitability and
potential of this product both from an Irish and international perspective.
With this suitability in mind the team has been approached by representatives
of Dublin City Council and specifically the council’s Waste Management Division
to discuss the potential deployment of a robust prototype on one of the city’s
busiest streets. Initial meetings have been overwhelmingly positive resulting
in discussions surrounding the trialling of the product on street level. Initial
testing has been undertaken in order to physically position the product within
a number of bins and this has also yielded constructive results. This progress
is extremely encouraging when the fact that Dublin City Council addressed the
initial opening of the hackathon is taken into consideration.
The version to be deployed uses a long life battery and a
small solar cell. We are also in the process of preparing a 3G enabled version
that will be deployed in areas where the city’s WiFi network is not yet
available. Our team’s principal aim is to provide technological assistance to
the council to allow it to maximize its resources most efficiently. By
providing each bin in the city with a unique identifier, our product will
create a complete dashboard of litter collection for the city council’s Waste
Management Services. Over time, as data emanating from the bins is collected,
optimal routes may be created in order to increase the efficiency of
collection. This information may also illustrate what geographic locations
within the city are placed under the most strain and whether the city’s resources
should then alter as a result. The clarity of the product and the information
acquired as a consequence of its use, coupled with the robust nature of its
hardware, is only outdone by the cost-effective nature of the service provided.
Proof of Concept:
Map of Bins on Bluemix
Click on this once the map is open to emulate a bin interaction
This is what the dashboard looks like:
And these are metrics for each of the bins:
Slide Presentation
Bintel,An Open-source Smart Bin Solution
Global Urban Datafest. Images by