Using Extremely Sophisticated Electronics to Solve a Real World Problem

4 Mar 2017

If you don't want to be disappointed by this blog don't read any further cause I lied.

The problem is that I have just signed up for a new Garbage Service. The new bin is to be left on the curb by my house in a very specific position so that the truck can come by and use its robotic arm to pick up the bin and tip it upside down to empty it. The arm then returns the bin to the curb in exactly the same position that I left it. I do not know when the truck comes so I find my self checking the bin several times a day to see if it has been dumped yet. The exercise involved in walking to the curb and looking into the bin is OK and probably actually good for me but the neighbors may notice and wonder why I am obsessed with the trash bin. I wanted a way that I could just look out my door and know immediately if the bin had been tipped or not. Here comes the Extremely Sophisticated Electronics part:

OK its not that sophisticated but one has to at least admit that its simplicity is beautiful. It is powered by 4 AA batteries and uses a Tilt Switch to trigger a small SCR. The SCR turns on a RED / BLUE 1 Hz LED flasher that continues to flash until the reset button is pushed. The circuit has been built into a small plastic box and protected from rain by a sealed plastic freezer bag. Here are pictures of the unit untriggered and triggered.

Before attaching the unit to the Trash Bin I called the company to see if they minded if I drilled (2) 3.175 mm holes so that I could mount the alarm. They told me "sure you can drill the holes as long as you don't mind paying for the bin". No Holes! OK. Back to the drawing board yielded an the idea to mount a bracket to the Alarm and then use a hose clamp to attach to the handle of the bin without drilling any holes or making any marks. Here is a picture of the Alarm mounted to the bin.

And

Now all I have to do is count the minutes until Tuesday when I can test it out.

John

Top Comments

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beacon_dave over 9 years ago

Just wondering how visible the LED is in daylight at a distance ? I was wondering if a fluorescent flip-dot type indicator may be more visible from a distance in daylight ?

Over here the bins are still manually loaded into the wagon, so the position of the bin is unknown after it is emptied. In fact, one is lucky if they even get the right bin back outside their house. I think I would need a wireless version with a GPS location tracker
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jw0752 over 9 years ago in reply to beacon_dave

Hi Dave,
A great point and I will just have to see how it goes on Tuesday. If it isn't bright enough I will give your flip dot indicator a check out.

John
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ntewinkel over 9 years ago in reply to jw0752

...I will just have to see how it goes on Tuesday.

You really should be testing at least 20 different solutions at once to save time... AND to make things REALLY interesting for the pickup crew!
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ntewinkel over 9 years ago in reply to jw0752

...I will just have to see how it goes on Tuesday.

You really should be testing at least 20 different solutions at once to save time... AND to make things REALLY interesting for the pickup crew!
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jw0752 over 9 years ago in reply to ntewinkel

As Michael pointed out I am probably going to scare them enough with what I have already added.
John
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