Patent AU-2019100273-A4 (AU)
Title: BinWin is a modern-day waste collection technology enabling councils and waste management authorities to manage waste effectively. The framework consists of IoT, AI, mobile & web applications integrated to monitor, track, and plan. The bins ensure eco-friendliness by keeping a constant check on fill levels enabling waste collection on a needs basis preventing over-flow, maintaining a hygienic environment using solar self-charging capability. BinWin promises to increase operational efficiencies in the waste collection chain, reducing cost and labour associated with rubbish collection & removal.
Inventor: RAJANI KAZIM RAZA
IPC: H04L12/00
Filed: 2019-03-15
Granted: 2019-05-02
Abstract: Abstract BINWIN TABLEOFCONTENTS BINWIN 1. Introduction of the Invention BinWin is an loT based platform facilitating digitalisation in the field of integrated solid waste management. BinWin is an entire eco-system starting from the bin, to the collection vehicle and the command & control centre. The invention comprises of a number of technologies such as Solar, RFID, sensors, devices and peripherals attached in order to provide a network of eco-friendly devices connected through wireless. 1.1. Objective In order to live up to the expectation of the citizens to make the environment eco-friendly, to reduce the carbon footprint and to make cities smart, it is important to give attention to the integrated solid waste management of the city. In order to achieve this KPI (Key Performance Indicator) of the councils and government agencies, we have developed an intelligent integrated solid waste management system which has a number of technologies assembled under one hood. The technology includes the loT framework, the RFID framework including the RFID Readers and RFID Tags and GPS location awareness algorithms in order to support the innovation. We have our standard bins of various sizes and can also have bins devised in line with the requirements of the council. We have also fitted the waste collection vehicles with smartphones with have BinWin mobile application allowing the driver to interact with the bin and the command & control centre. The command & control centre is responsible for providing the updates, alerts & notifications and have been designed for the councils to continuously monitor the bins. BinWin solution is designed keeping in view the needs of smart cities, parks, universities, schools & colleges, social centres, communities, cinemas etc. 1.2. Problem Over the last couple of decades, the increase in solid waste has been identified as one of the most significant impacts of globalisation and increasing population. This has also caused concerns for the council planning to turn the cities into the smart cities. It has also been identified as a potential health hazard as the bins with an overflow of the waste cause greenhouse gas emissions and a pose a serious threat to environmental balance. BINWIN It has surfaced in our research that the traditional ways of identifying the demand and plan the number of bins, the type of bins, the location of the bin and the number of visits to collect the waste have been very complicated and required years to plan the capacity levels. With the advent of BinWin system, it is anticipated that the operational efficiencies will rise significantly in turn providing a wealth of information for planning the waste management of the city. The information includes the fill-level of the bin, the temperature of the bin, the frequency at which the bin gets filled, the frequency at which the bin gets emptied in the current setting and the predicting the potential fill level and the rate at which the fill takes place using predictive analytics and plan the waste collection accordingly. 1.3. Solution BinWin's bin is fitted with modern-day loT enabled hardware comprising of solar panels, fill level sensors, pressure compactor, location sensors, temperature monitoring, and data capturing & transmitting sensors. The software components of BinWin comprises of the Android application connected with server module for the driver of waste collection vehicles and a web-based admin panel for council authorities to monitor the statistics of all the bins. The backend administrative system utilises the server & middle tier module which has Al based algorithms to predict the date & time of bin fill rate as well as allows the councils to monitor fill capacity in real-time, generate reports and analytics on key parameters like fill level information, how often the bin gets filled, closest waste collection vehicle in the area and so forth. This allows the council to plan their waste collection route effectively achieving operational efficiencies, primarily in the areas of fuel and fleet maintenance costs. The sensors in the BinWin system are equipped with loT framework allowing them to self check their health and notifies the administrator when the sensors signal. The alerts and notifications are built in the system with reports to assess the frequency of the maintenance alarms signalling the system for repair. The GPRS/GSM module in the device enables data transmission is routed to server & middleware components. 1.4. Qualitative Assessments The system has been fully hypothesised for various tests such as a and p hypothesis to minimise the risk of incorrect compaction process and fill-level identification. This system uses an intricate set of loT (Internet of Things) based algorithms relying on self-learning techniques, big data analytics, customer engagement behaviour and pattern analysis using BINWIN data extraction, knowledge mining, utilisation, and action plan. 1.5. Quantitative Assessments The BinWin system has some of the most innovative technologies used in the platform such as the ability to self-generate the power through Solar Panels covered with Polycarbonate shield and battery storage associated with the platform which can be monitored through the reports and has the ability to save 80% of power as opposed to its non-solar counterpart. The bin can save the energy with solar and the wattage ratings on the LCD screens. The body of the bin has been designed such that it can function equally well in extreme weathers and have been designed keeping in view different countries and their climates. Whether it is extremely hot, raining or freezing snow, the bin still functions as normal. It can take up to a maximum of 80°C and a minimum of -30°C The bin is also equipped with the scissor compactor increasing the capacity of the bin by cutting through the waste and reducing the volume it takes to fill up the bin. This reduces the frequent visits for waste collection and improves carbon footprint. This allows the trash to be reduced and the frequency of visits can reduce by approximately 70%. This enables the councils to have cost efficiencies by a significant reduction in the cost of transportation, man-hours, fuel consumption and improving carbon footprint by reducing C02 gas emissions. 1.6. Design Elements The BinWin framework comprises of the following loT (Internet of Things) technologies connected through wireless network acting as the building blocks of the framework: * GPS Tracking Devices • RFID Readers * RFID Tags • Fill- level sensors • Solar Panels " Battery Storage * Scissor Compactor • Thermal Sensors * GSM Module • Wireless Connectivity BINWIN 2. Field of the Invention The field of the invention is an intelligent integrated waste management system called BinWin equipped with modern-day technologies which allow the council and the government bodies to efficiently and effectively monitor and manage the waste collection vehicles & bin and related processes in order to achieve environmental and social benefits. The BinWin system application allows the council to reap the following benefits: • Improved environmental benefits * Reduced greenhouse gas emissions * Improved planning data for the authorities • Efficient real-time waste management reporting • Increase in revenue through advertisement LCDs * Better utilisation of the labour and resources • Real-time vehicle route management • Real-time update on the fill-level of the bin [0001] General: Following are the key modules involved in the development of BinWin framework: " Monitoring, and management of Vehicles * Real-time Vehicle Status • Real-time Bin Status * Route Planning & Optimisation • Journey Planning & Optimisation * Reporting Dashboard • Planning Demand of Capacity • RFID fitted Vehicle " RFID Tag fitted Bin * Reading the RFID Tag of the Bin * Complaint App for Citizen [0002] Highest Grade Stainless Steel Body: The body of the bin is made up of the highest grade of stainless steel allowing the bin to be saved from extreme weather conditions and prevent it from corrosion. The body has been designed to handle the maximum temperature of 80°C and the minimum of -30°C. The bins are painted with a corrosion free with Teflon coating which protects the steel. BINWIN The outside of the bin is designed such that it is a high-gloss surface and is saved from graffiti, in turn, improving the look and feel of the bin which is pleasant to the eyes and presentable to be a part of any scene whether indoor or outdoor. The outside of the bin's body can also be custom printed or branded as per the needs of a council or the business. [0003] Fill-Level Sensors: The fill-level sensors are the significant part of the design allowing the fill level of the bin to be captured and transmitted to the command and control system allowing the system to notify the waste collection vehicle in the event the bin is filled. The fill-level sensors have been calibrated and benchmarked against the bin and the machine learning is used to train the system to benchmark. As a standard, we have benchmarked the bin's fill-level based on calibration of 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% but this can be re-calibrated based on the need of the service provider organisation. On the reporting dashboard, colours are assigned to the fill-levels corresponding to the benchmarks, for example, we have nominated 'blue'for 0%, 'green'for'25%, 'yellow'for 50% and 'red'for 75% and above. As soon as the fill-level of the bin reaches 75%, the system sends a notification to the command & control system. The bin also sends alerts and notifications to the closes waste collection vehicle through GPS based location awareness. This sends an 'Accept'/ 'Reject' message to the driver who can then action on the 'call for action' buttons. If the driver in the proximity of the bin has accepted the message then a notification is sent on the system dashboard and the job becomes invisible for the other drivers. In the event the message is rejected by the driver then the other closest driver is sent the message. If the message is not accepted for 5 mins then the system locates another closest driver and sent the notification. [0004] Scissor Compactor: The Scissor Compactor is a high-pressure sharp scissor mounted with a motor placed at the top of the bin which has the capability to compress and cuts through the waste in the bin. The Scissor compactor has also an integrated workflow which works on both the scheduled compaction and trigger-based compaction. The scheduled compaction takes place every 3 hours; this is a standard time pre-fed as a standard, however, can be customised through the admin console; the authorities can have the compaction set to take place more or less often. The trigger-based compaction takes place when the fill-level sensors notify the admin console that the bin is full 25%, 50%, and 75%. Once the bin hits 75%, the compaction takes place every one hour in order to reduce the fill-level of the bin to manage the capacity and keep it from overflowing from the bin as it can cause health and environmental hazards. BINWIN [0005] Advertisement LCD Screen: The advertisement LCD screen allows the outside of the bin to display the advertisement on the LCD screens mounted on the four sides of the bin in the vertical fashion. This enables the councils and the authorities to use this as an opportunity to display public service messages or to use it as another source of the revenue stream in order to recoup the investments on the bin and help them achieve the ROI (Return on Investment). [0006] Thermal Sensors: The thermal sensors are located in the bin next to the fill-level sensors allowing the system to keep a track on the temperature built inside the bin. This is important to continuously ensure that there hasn't been a fire inside the bin and to maintain the levels of public safety. The bin's internal area is set up to handle a maximum internal temperature of 800C and the minimum internal temperature to be -300C. When the temperature approaches the 500C & above and -10OC & lower than the system generates notification alert and send it to the admin console and the nearest waste collection vehicle as they are equipped with the necessary technology to control the temperature and keep it within the normal allowed range of temperature. [0007] GSM - GPRS Module: The GSM Module has a socket function that has the space to hold the data SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card in the bin. This is mounted at the bottom of the bin. The GSM (Global System for Moble Communication) - GPRS (Global Packet Radio Service) Module in the BinWin system comprises of Microprocessors, Communication Interfaces (RS-232, USB), IC (Integrated Circuits), and Power Supply Circuit to activate communication with the network. [0008] Wireless Router: The wireless router provides the network connectivity allowing the system's sensors to connect with each other through the wireless router. This is a significant component since it allows the loT (Internet of Things) framework to give all the sensors, devices, and peripherals the ability to send notifications in relation to their health-check. [0009] Data Capture: The data capture functionality of the BinWin waste collection mobile application is to send the bin's locations and the route data with the help of the in-app GPS tracking. These locations are pre-fed in the mobile application with potential routes to get to that location in the event alternate routes need to be taken for route optimisation. BINWIN [0010] Vehicle Installation: The waste collection vehicles are fitted with a mobile device mounted on the dashboard of the vehicle which has the BinWin mobile application with GPS location awareness. The routes and the location of the bins are pre-configured in the application. [0011] RFID Reader installations and Bin Tagging: The RFID technology is used by the BinWin framework to ensure that the system is capable of reaching the Bin even if the bin has lost the power. Both the bin and the waste collection vehicles are equipped with RFID technology. Each bin has an RFID tag attached to it which continuously radiates RFID signals. When the RFID reader approaches in the proximity, the bin sends a notification to the RFID reader. The RFID reader is mounted in every waste collection vehicle making the process robust and fool-proof. [0012] Solar Panel: The Solar Panels are installed on top of the bin and capture the solar energy. They store this energy on the battery attached at the bottom of the bin. This energy is as low as 7 watts which allows them to function in every weather and location. The wattage can go up depending upon the size of the bin hence the power consumption increases proportionately. The light function is also dependent on the wattage consumed by the LCD screen but will always be under 20 watts which allows the bin to function throughout the day even when it's not a sunny day or during cloudy weather. The bins have also been designed with an external power function allowing the battery to be recharged externally in the event the weather is not sunny for multiple days. The external power outlet function also makes them suitable for indoor areas such as cinemas, malls, community centres, universities, libraries, airports, and bus ports. The energy is used by the LCD advertisement screens, wireless connectivity routers, compactors, fill-level sensors etc. [0013] Polycarbonate Shield: The polycarbonate shield is lightweight strong transparent shield having the excellent strength and mechanical capability making it UV resitant. This is mounted with screws and bolts on the solar panel, which protects the solar panel. It is anti-breakable and protects the solar panel as a weather shield, and also acts as a theft prevention mechanism. When the screws are unbolted, there is a LED buzzer which flashes red light with sound and the bin notifies the command and control centre of an attempt to theft. BINWIN [0014] Admin Console: The Admin Console is an integrated back-end system which is a master control system for all the bins, waste collection vehicles and the loT devices attached in all the bins and the vehicles. The Admin Console can at all time view the location of any vehicles and the route they have taken in order to get to a bin, and propose alternate routes accordingly. The admin console also has the ability to track every bin and the status inside the bin such as the bin's temperature, fill-level, and geographical coordinates. The admin console can see real time vehicles and bins with an extensive search functionality. The information is available in a tabular format and can be printed, extracted and saved locally. The admin console receives notification from the bin and the vehicle and communicates with the vehicle as well. The admin panel system has the ability to analyse the collection activity on a daily basis and sends alerts and notifications based on the efficiency and performance of the system. The system is also capable of recording events should the need arise. The events and the related message categories have been pre-defined in the system and templates and the first responder had been pre-fed. The alarms can normally be related to the health check of the devices and sensors inside the bin, the body of the bin, the attempt of theft or vandalism, error in connectivity and communication, fill-level and the rate at which the bin is filled etc. [0015] Reporting Dashboard: The reporting dashboard of the BinWin system has a number of fields and an extensive search functionality. The reporting dashboard allows the management of the command and control centre and the authorities to draw reports on the transactions completed by the BinWin system. The reporting dashboard is capable of showing all related attributes to the bin and the waste collection vehicle and also the ability to draw relationship between different attributes, for example, the relationship between bin's location with fill-levels etc. [0016] Data Visualisation: The Database design of the BinWin system is such that it has multiple entities and the realationship in form of an RDBMS (Relational Database Management System). This data is clustered and categorised for the analysis. The data fields which are the key entities include, the location of the bin, the status of the Battery in the bin, the fill-level status, the vehicle number of the waste collection vehicle, its real-time speed, total distance travelled by the waste collection vehicle, the type of the waste collection vehicle, name of the driver and their unique identifier. This allows the councils to take an evidence-based approach to support their planning and effective decision-making with data. BINWIN [0017] Solution Architecture: The Solution architecture of the BinWin system is based on loT key functions and the technology which has been employed in order to achieve those functions. The functions include the wireless connectivity which is achieved through a combination of a GSM-GPRS Module and a router; the cloud is used to store the information and transact with multiple systems such as between the waste collection vehicles, the bins, the command and control centre admin console and the reporting dashboard; the SMS gateway used for sending and receiving the alerts and notifications; the mobile application with route planning & optimisation; the admin console and the reporting dashboard. [0018] BinWin Platform: A bin that can send notification through fill level sensor to the closest waste collection vehicle that the waste is ready to be picked. The bin has the capability to save itself from theft as it has screw bolted down. The bin also has the capability to charge itself using solar power with the ability to contract rubbish in the bin by high-pressure motor fit in the lid. The bin can also send notifications using GSM SIM or wifi hotspot to the nearest waste collection vehicle and have fill-levels defined using fill level sensor i.e., 0%, 25%, 50%, and 75% fill. The platform can be equally beneficial to any business and can be used in high-population dense areas or high-traffic areas such as throughout the city, in hospital facilities, parks, community centres, cinemas, food courts in a mall, parking lots etc. It is important to note that computer vision techniques have been used to train the system through supervised learning about the recycling of the waste and separating the waste based on the type of the waste, for example, whether the waste has plastic, glass, stone, cement, paper or organic material which determines how the bin must be protected and what measures need to be taken in order to manage this waste. BINWIN 3. Background of the Invention The purpose of this invention is to aid the councils and government reap the benefits of operational efficiencies by promoting the environmental friendly bins which generate their own power for their operations, notifies the waste collection vehicle and the command & control centre to collect the waste as and when required. This will allow the councils and government agencies to save their costs and time spent in analysing which bin and when to collect the waste especially when the bin is empty. Traditionally a lot of time and costs had been spent by the councils in organising the daily, weekly rounds of waste collection which were their usual practice for waste collection which resulted in a few bins being completely empty, the others being partly or filled. Often times the frequency at the which the waste is collected is more or less comparing to the actual demand of the waste collection service. Traditionally it was also difficult for councils to know which parts of the city requires frequent waste collection. Since the planning data was very poor so the chances of drawing an analysis and use this for planning were minimal. The core purpose for developing the BinWin solution is to ensure that the councils and the Government agencies can play their role in the improvement of the environment to avoid the bins overflowing and to curb the greenhouse gas emissions. This is a key milestone in achieving a smart city model where the data and technology are the fundamental building block in driving the economy, in turn, achieving operational efficiencies and growing innovation seed. The emphasis here is the environment and making community a healthier place for the citizens. This required the use of infrastructure including a number of sensors, devices and peripherals in order to enable the community to embrace digitalisation, and automation of manual processes. 3.1. Current State Currently, there is no system available for the bins to be intelligently predicting the amount of waste, the volumes and the time at which the bins will fill up and require emptying. The councils do not have a system for the councils and authorities to optimise operational efficiencies, in turn, improving the environment and achieving benefits for the public. The fundamental building blocks to manage the bins and keep them from overflowing requires that the councils have enough data and understanding to interpret and analyse that BINWIN data in order make it a smart city. From capturing real-time information in relation to the bin's fill-level to the location of the waste collection vehicle to notifying the vehicle and sending the health-check report from the connected devices is what the councils need in today's day and age. In the current state, the bins do not have any connectivity, sensors to capture fill level or devices to help compress the waste or to run the power operations through solar and battery with the use of networks like 5G, 4G, and 3G wireless connection. 3.2. Benefits for Citizens The BinWin solution has many benefits including the ones for the citizens i.e., it improves the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emission, in turn, improving citizen health. The bin captures data and has technology including the sensors which have the capability to determine fill level and inform the waste collection vehicle in proximity to collect the waste. The sensors can also send notification to the command and control centre to advise the waste collection vehicle for the purpose of collection. The BinWin system have thermal sensors fitted which detects the temperature inside the bin. If the bin catches fire then the command and control centre will be notified and the closest waste collection vehicle will take measures to mitigate any potential risk and improve the situation and put out the fire. Since the command and control centre and the admin console have the ability to see real time statuses and get automatic system trigger notification when a particular bin reaches its maximum capacity, this alerts the nearest waste collection vehicle to collect the waste and keep the bins from overflowing. This allows the use of predictive analytics to determine the pattern in which the waste is generated i.e., at what days of the week and what time does the waste amount increases etc. In this way, the council can devise targeted action plans to mitigate the situation. 3.3. Benefits for Service Provider Organisations The BinWin system has a number of benefits for nimble councils, government agencies and waste collection businesses who see the need to update technology and keep up with new loT frameworks and technologies, in turn, getting quick returns ROls. The solar capability allows the system to capture solar energy and save it to re-use this for the operation of the bin. Additionally, the bin is equipped with LCD screens to display advertisements or public service messages and has a built-in loudspeaker and buzzer to be used in the event of an emergency. This allows the system to continue to function without an external power. There's an option available for an external power outlet to be used for indoor purposes. BINWIN 4. Summary of the Invention The BinWin system is an loT based environmental framework focusing on the operational efficiency of cities by collecting a large amount of data through transactions with the bin. This helps the council, government agencies and other businesses involved in urban planning and development of smart cities to gauge the public sentiment towards technology and the use of the bin helping in determining the waste production habits of a city. The financial model of this bin is such that in comparison with its non-technical counterpart, this bin saves a lot of money for the councils and help them achieve operational efficiencies by reducing the time, costs and effort. Some of the key cost efficiencies come from saving of man-hours, saving waste collection vehicle and road depreciation, saving the fuel consumption, reduction in the greenhouse gas emission and reducing the road traffic. 4.1. Description The benefits of the BinWin system include the reduction of the CO 2 gas emission by reducing the fuel combustion and converting into pollution by the reduction in the number of rounds and the frequency formerly required for the collection of the waste. With the increase in the population, it is important to align the demand and capacity to fulfill the demand. This was very hard to predict with conventional bins since they did not provide any data and the ability to compact the bin which is no more a problem with the BinWin solution. The bins, because of their connectivity and the ability to have new technology connected and embraced fairly quickly, can act as the hot spots on Wi-Fi for the people who can't otherwise afford housing or for the citizens approaching the facility where the bins are located. In this way, the councils get another opportunity to collect a significant amount of data. This is a business case and requires business decision since this means a securer network has to be enabled if the Wi-Fi is to be shared with the public. 4.2. What's new about this product? The problem of bin overflowing is also solved with the advent of the BinWin solution. This allows time for the staff to be redirected to more valuable activities than just checking the bins if they have been filled. The waste separation system through the use of computer vision also helps the waste collection vehicles to separate the waste in recyclable and non recyclable waste at the time of emptying the bin. BinWin provide phenomenal cost savings over the lifetime of the bin installation. The average age of the bin is average 7 years. BINWIN 4.3. What do we offer as compared to what's available? Currently, there is no mechanism available that provide detailed reports on the relationship between each waste management related parameter. The ability of the BinWin solution to have self-reliance on the power generated by the solar energy using that