The call for Smarter Cities seems to be on everyone’s lips these days. And with good reason. Everyone wants smoother flowing traffic, greater security, and more efficient use of energy. Smart technology is already providing answers to these problems. But we are still just scratching the surface of what is possible.
Managing our waste in a smarter manner is hugely important to the quality of our daily lives, and Guardforce, a pioneer of innovative smart city solutions, is contributing to improving inefficient waste management with Smart Bins.
The clever new rubbish bins combine cloud-based software with the latest Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to detect the condition of the bins at any time and alert waste managers to overflowing bins.
There are four key elements that give the Guardforce Smart Bins much higher IQs than the average bin.
1. The Ultrasonic Fill-level Sensor
This sensor is embedded inside the bin to detect how full it is, and sends the data back to a cloud-based analytics platform to alert those responsible for the bin.
2. Solar-powered Trash Compactors
When the waste inside a bin reaches a pre-set level, the solar-powered trash compactor will be activated to compress the waste allowing the bin to hold up to eight times more waste and reduce the collection frequency by up to 80%. This is a huge boon for managing bins in remote areas like large parks or beachside areas and campsites.
3. Fleet Management Platform
This is another clever idea that gathers all the information on all the bins in a given area through one monitoring platform and a single dashboard so cleansing staff can work more efficiently and tailor their routes to tackle the bins most in need of emptying first.
4. Safety Detection
This involves an intelligent sensor to, for example, stop the compacting process when a hand is detected. If a fire is detected inside the bin, the fire sensor will send an immediate signal to notify those responsible for the bin or even activate a compressor to put the fire out.
No matter how you look at them, Smart Bins make sense, and could be a real boon not just to smart cities as a whole, but to all stakeholders in waste management, be it service providers, public and private enterprises or environmental groups. Smart Bins help to create a cleaner, safer, more hygienic environment and enhanced operational efficiency while reducing management costs, resources, and road-side emissions. The Smart Bin is ideal for busy locations such as campuses, theme parks, airports, railway stations, and shopping malls.
The smarter management of waste is just one area that Guardforce is working in to make our lives, better, safer and more convenient. For more on Smart Bins and other Guardforce innovations go to https://www.guardforce.com.hk/en/security-technologies/smart-bin
