Team of Department of Electrical Engineering developed smart trash bin
(Report by student journalist) Associate Professor of the Department of Electrical Engineering Tong-Yu Hsieh, together with his students – Hsien-Chang Hou, Wei-Chi Chao, and Hsiang Chiu, developed a “smart trash bin” and won the Excellence Award of the 3rd Project Competition and Presentation of the College of Engineering, the 3rd prize in the category of smart devices of the 2020 National University Smart Innovation and Interdisciplinary Project Competition (2020全國大專校院智慧創新暨跨域整合創作競賽), and the 3rd Vmware Award. Professor Hsieh said that what is special about the smart trash bin is its modular design that allows coordinating trash collection based on needs and traffic volume.
The idea for a smart trash bin originated from the course at the Department of Electrical Engineering on open-source prototype systems and applications. Professor Hsieh said that he used the problem-based learning method, making the students discuss the problems related to trash cans on campus. The students identified and solved 3 problems: too much trash in the can and no waste segregation, monkeys scavenging trash bins, and wasting human resources for monitoring the trash bins filling status. They used AI to identify the type of waste to help segregate trash, infrared ray and ultrasonic sensor to prevent animals from opening the trash can, and the technology of the Internet of Things to notify the employees when the trash bin needs emptying.
Student Hsien-Chang Hou said that the AI identification function impressed the evaluation committee of the competition particularly, as it allows the user to modify the default settings of the trash can. For example, the original settings might be: bin A - general waste and bin B - plastic and paper; these can be flexibly reconfigured according to the user's needs. He also emphasized that the smart trash bin is an interdisciplinary work, embodying the concepts of technology and human resource management of the Department of Electrical Engineering.
For winning these three awards, Professor Hsieh said that it is mainly because the students applied well the various knowledge gained during courses at the Department of Electrical Engineering. This research and development work was supported by the projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education, and National Sun Yat-sen University.
(Edited by Public Affairs Division)
The idea for a smart trash bin originated from the course at the Department of Electrical Engineering on open-source prototype systems and applications. Professor Hsieh said that he used the problem-based learning method, making the students discuss the problems related to trash cans on campus. The students identified and solved 3 problems: too much trash in the can and no waste segregation, monkeys scavenging trash bins, and wasting human resources for monitoring the trash bins filling status. They used AI to identify the type of waste to help segregate trash, infrared ray and ultrasonic sensor to prevent animals from opening the trash can, and the technology of the Internet of Things to notify the employees when the trash bin needs emptying.
Student Hsien-Chang Hou said that the AI identification function impressed the evaluation committee of the competition particularly, as it allows the user to modify the default settings of the trash can. For example, the original settings might be: bin A - general waste and bin B - plastic and paper; these can be flexibly reconfigured according to the user's needs. He also emphasized that the smart trash bin is an interdisciplinary work, embodying the concepts of technology and human resource management of the Department of Electrical Engineering.
For winning these three awards, Professor Hsieh said that it is mainly because the students applied well the various knowledge gained during courses at the Department of Electrical Engineering. This research and development work was supported by the projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education, and National Sun Yat-sen University.
(Edited by Public Affairs Division)
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