Take the trash out... to the edge. Creating a Smart Waste Bin based on 5G Multi-access Edge Computing

Abstract

The fifth generation of mobile cellular networks (5G) will bring many improvements to our everyday lives. In particular, the interplay between 5G and IoT technologies will pave the way for the realisation of the Smart City concept, providing humans with better, safer and cleaner cities. In this work, we describe the prototype of a Smart Waste Bin, a connected trash bin that automatically sorts garbage with the help of Convolutional Neural Networks algorithms. The bin intelligence runs on the edge of the 5G network exploiting a Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) architecture, enabling a low-latency and energy efficient operation. We describe the design, the implementation and the experimental validation of the prototype, also discussing possible future application scenarios.

A 5G-Enabled Smart Waste Management System for University Campus

“…Motivated by these reasons, this paper extends our previous paper [19] and describes the realization of a complete solution for the efficient management of USW. The key building block of our proposal is a novel prototype of a Smart Waste Bin (SWB), a smart object able to automatically sort different types of trash directly at the place of generation using a multi-sensor approach, thus easing the management of the entire trash cycle.…”

A Systematic Literature Review of Waste Identification in Automatic Separation Systems

“…Manual feeding: The user deposits the pieces of waste, one at a time, to be sensed by the device. Visible-image-based [6,7,41] and sound-based sensors [12], as well as inductive and capacitive sensors [42], are used for sensing. Afterwards, a gravity-based mechanism is used to perform the separation.…”

“…The most common complementary functionalities are trash-can-level detection [6,10,38], abnormal gas detection [10], a web platform [6,10,43], or a mobile application [38].…”

“…The segregation process can be performed in two locations: (i) At the point of waste generation [6], where the user directly disposes of their waste. The sensing process is usually conducted in a chamber [6], and the collected information is processed to send signals to motors [7] or actuators [8], directing the waste to the appropriate bin. (ii) In a centralized place [9], where sequential sensing processes are performed as the waste is transported on a conveyor belt.…”

“…(ii) In a centralized place [9], where sequential sensing processes are performed as the waste is transported on a conveyor belt. Multiple technologies, such as inductive sensors, color identification sensors [8], or image-based sensors [6], are used to capture information from the waste. These data are processed to identify and place the waste into the corresponding bin [10].…”