inBin is a project by a group of 3rd Year engineering students from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia for their year-long design project.
As a part of this project, the students were selected by RMIT to participate in the annual Telstra University Challenge (TUC): a 10-week challenge in which groups of students from universities across the country compete to produce an innovative connected solution to a problem presented by one of 5 Not-For-Profit organisations.
inBin was designed as a solution to the problem presented by the Not-for-Profit organisation, Keep Australia Beautiful:
-Using technology, how can we drive an anti-littering culture and influence the behaviour of millions of Australians?
-Using technology, what can we do to reduce the litter we see along our highways, parks, and beaches?
To solves these problems, inBin was designed with two core systems:
1. Reward System - inBin Rewards
An anti-littering culture is influenced by providing rewards to individuals who dispose of their rubbish responsibly. The idea behind inBin Rewards is to give an additional incentive to those that do litter; encouraging them to move that little extra distance to a rubbish bin.
When rubbish is disposed of in an inBin enabled rubbish bin, points are awarded to the individual wirelessly through this companion smartphone app. The points can be redeemed for discounts and free stuff from a variety of partner businesses.
2. Smart Monitoring System - inBin Analytics
The Internet of Things (IoT) side of inBin.
Sensors placed inside a rubbish bin detect fill level, and send the information to the cloud where it is displayed on a web-based dashboard.
Councils and businesses can log in to view the status of their bins and be alerted when they require emptying. Statistics about each bin, generated from the collected data, are also displayed. Average fill level per hour, number of app impressions per hour, etc...
This information allows more bins to be placed in more locations; particularly in more remote areas such as beaches, parks, or highway stops, where maintaining a general rubbish bin is not feasible.
inBin was selected as a finalist in the Telstra University Challenge and was awarded 2nd Place (First Runner Up). inBin was exceptionally well recieved by the industry panel of judges and was the only entry to score a perfect 100/100 from Keep Australia Beautiful in the judging process.