The Scientific Temper (2023) Vol.

14 (2): 412-417 E-ISSN: 2231-6396, ISSN: 0976-8653

Doi: 10.58414/SCIENTIFICTEMPER.2023.14.2.27 https://scientifictemper.com/

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Smart Dustbin using IOT

S Prabhakaran1, Yugeshkrishnan M1, Santhiya M2 and Danush K S M1

Abstract
Living in a technological world that is upgrading day by day, there is one major problem that should be dealt with. Garbage, which
is the issue preventing us from developing into a sanitary, clean, and healthy society. In our daily lives, we frequently encounter trash
cans that are overflowing with junk. Neither our environment nor our growth benefit from situations like this. Due to the abundance of
flies and mosquitoes that breed on the garbage, this issue significantly negatively impacts health. As a result, this project is designed
to prevent the trashcan from becoming overfilled by giving it the ability to alert itself when it needs to be cleaned. The smart trash bin
system in this project is built on a microcontroller and has ultrasonic sensors on each of the two trash cans to display the garbage’s
current status on an LCD screen and a smartphone.
Keywords: Smart dustbin, Dijkstra’s algorithm, LCD, wireless fidelity, global positioning system.

Introduction comprises an ESP8266 Wi-Fi router, a LCD display, and an

Smart cities refer to a smart lifestyle with continuous Arduino to send data. A website is also created so that the
monitoring and control of the actions around humans. user watching it can see the dustbins’ current state in real
With the enormous increase in population rate there is a time. This web page also aids with the stored information
vital need for waste management. Due to dustbin overload, regardingthe status of the bins and the frequency at which
countless people die each year from environmental diseases a dustbin is filled. Data logs can be analyzed and suitable
like cholera, diarrhea, malaria, and typhoid. Solid waste correction measures can be taken.
management is evolving into a global issue due to rapid A customized buzzer that is set to flash whenever the
population increase, city government dysfunction, a lack of waste level exceeds the predetermined limit is included
public awareness, and inadequate money for programmes. into the website. Thus, by notifying the public about the
Smart trash cans use the integration of both ultrasonic rubbish levels via a website, this technique contributes to
and infrared sensors to detect the level of waste and keeping the city clean.
determine a human’s presence. The Internet of Things (IoT) The shortest path between the dustbins is calculated in
is a concept through which the objects under observation a manner to minimize time and fuel consumption. Dijkstra’s
are continuously monitored and controlled using wired algorithm calculates the shortest path from one dustbin to
or wirelesscommunication in another device. This scheme the nearest dustbin. A MATLAB simulation using fiftynodes
was programmed to identify the shortest route from a current
node to the nearest node where the nodes represent the
1
Department of Robotics and Automation Engg. PSG College of
dustbins and the location of the nodes are provided using
Technology, Coimbatore, India
the x-y coordinates. The simulation output includes the
2
Department of EEE, Coimbatore Institute of Technology,
shortest path and the distance between the two nodes.
Coimbatore, India
*Corresponding Author: Yugeshkrishnan M, Department of Problem Definition
Robotics and Automation Engg. PSG College of Technology, The World Health Organization (WHO) claims that a
Coimbatore, India, E-Mail: [email protected] significant sanitation-related issue is urban solid waste
How to cite this article: Prabhakaran, S., Yugeshkrishnan, M., disposal. According to recent study projections, cities
Santhiya, M., Kumar, D.S.M. (2023). Smart Dustbin using IOT. The produce 1.3 billion tons of solid trash annually; by 2025,
Scientific Temper, 14(2):412-417.
this number is predicted to increase to 2.2 billion tons. This
Doi: 10.58414/SCIENTIFICTEMPER.2023.14.2.27 is primarily the result of inadequate solid waste collection
Source of support: Nil and disposal. This may also lead to an increase in the number
Conflict of interest: None. of insects and rodents that spread disease. Other urban

© The Scientific Temper. 2023

Received: 16/03/2023 Accepted: 06/05/2023 Published : 30/06/2023
413 Smart Dustbin using IOT

features like overcrowding can make these dangers worse. in (Wijaya et al., 2017; Patel et al., 2019; Soh et al., 2019) for
Garbage collecting truck drivers are unable to identify all detection of trash level inside the bin. However, the above
the locations of the trash cans leading to overloading of the prototypes do not include the dustbin’s automatic opening
missed garbage bins over a time period. Also, the drivers and closing facility. Rohit et al. (2018) proposed a prototype
lack awareness regarding the shortest path to the garbage that incorporates an automatic opening and closing
bins, increasing fuel consumption and collection time. This function using an IR sensor also the system includes two
problem can be addressed by detecting the waste of the dustbins where the second dustbin is operationalonly after
dustbins and proving the location of the filled dustbins to the first dustbin reaches its maximum limit. Alert systems
the user through a web page also the shortest route can be were also provided (Sreejith et al., 2019; Alsayaydeh et al.,
identified through Dijkstra’salgorithm. 2019; Anilkumar et al., 2019; Sharma & Singh, 2018). An alert
message is raised when the waste level reaches its maximum
Objective
capacity and additional sensors for rain waterdetection was
The objective of this project is to facilitate the automatic also provided (Sreejith et al., 2019).
opening and closing of the garbage bins whenever motion In the paper by Alsayaydeh et al. (2019), the alarm is
within range is detected and also to monitor the level of raised in two stages the first alarm is raised as a warning and
garbage filled in the bins using the ultrasonic sensors and the next indicates that the dustbin is full. Additional sensors
update the status to the web page created, through Internet such as gas sensors for odor detection, Bluetooth module
of Things (IoT) so as to provide awareness regarding the and weight sensors, have also been included (Anilkumar et
waste level in real-time to the garbage truck driver. The al., 2019; Johnson & Shyni, 2019). The smart dustbin identifies
locations of the filled dustbins are also provided to the a human using an IR sensor (Anilkumar et al., 2019). If a
truck drivers through the web page. A simulation depicting human is detected the lid of the dustbin will automatically
the identification of the shortest path to the dustbins open and if the person goes away from the bin the lid of the
using Dijkstra’s algorithm is done using MATLAB. In real- dustbin will closeautomatically using a stepper motor action.
time conditions, the dustbins are connected using Global The proposed wastebin by Johnson & Shyni (2019) is made
Positioning System (GPS) and can be continuously monitored to monitor the level of trash in the bin, the weight of the
using the web page created. Ultrasonic sensors detect the trash collected and the presence of CO2 in the trash. LCD
volume of waste in the dustbins, and those that are overfilled displays are used to provide the current status of waste in
are taken into account when calculating the quickest route. the dustbin. However, no long-range communication alert
Once the filled dustbins are identified, Dijkstra’s algorithm system (Sharma & Singh, 2018).
code is executed to choose the minimum distance path IoT and wireless communication plays a major role
from the current to the nearest node. The dustbins are for smart dustbins. Technologies such as IoT, GSM/GPRS
represented as nodes in the program, the location and the and GPS have been used to achieve real time information
distance between them can be identified using the Global sharing. Simulation tools, mobile applications and cloud
Positioning System. platforms have been utilized to develop the prototype
Project Scope models. Android applications have been developed for
The proposed method is for utilizing the sensorseffectively user interface (Kumar et al., 2017; Anitha et al., 2018; Soh et
to detect human intervention and waste level and provide al., 2019; Kariapper et al., 2019). Arduino have been widely
an effective means of transferring the information to the used as the processing platform (Anitha et al., 2018; Soh et
user through IoT and also offer the shortest path to the al., 2019; Sharma & Singh, 2018) and also ATmega has been
filled garbage bins by implementing Dijkstra’s algorithm, this used processor by Anilkumar et al. (2019) and Kaushik &
system can not only allow the truck driver and officials but Yadav (2017).
also the residents to check for the overflow. Thus, it provides To achieve real-time operations GSM and GPRS have
awareness regarding the level of waste and the frequency been used for location tracking of the dustbins (Kumar et
at which the waste is being collected. al., 2017; Rohit et al., 2018).In a paper by Kariapper et al. (2019),
GPS and the shortest path algorithm are used for tracking
Literature Survey applications. Simulation tools such as Network Simulator 2
Several works have been published for prototype (NS2) was used by Anitha et al. (2018) and Ionic3 was used
development of smart dustbins. The major attributes include for mobile app development by Sharma & Singh (2018).
sensors and methodology adopted, technology used and Ubidots cloud platform has been used for data storage by
algorithms implemented. Soh et al. (2019).
Sensors are vital for receiving the input signals such as In real time scenarios dust bins are distributed widely in
level of waste collected, human movement, and amount various locations in a city hence it becomes difficult for the
of the waste collected. Ultrasonic sensors have been used trash car driver to locate the dustbin. For effective location
414 S Prabhakaran et al. The Scientific Temper. Vol. 14, No. 2

tracking various shortest path algorithms have been used. from the infrared sensor makes the servo motor to open and
Anitha et al. (2018) used the LEACH algorithm for location close the dustbin lid automatically. The level detected by
detection. Dijkstra’s algorithm has been commonly used the ultrasonic sensor is uploaded in the ThingSpeak cloud
(Kariapper et al., 2019; Kaushik & Yadav, 2017; Xiao & Lu, 2010. environment to make the data available anytime, anywhere.
Kariapper et al. (2019) and Kaushik & Yadav (2017) employed The shortest path to find the location of filled dustbin is
Dijkstra’s algorithm for real time tracking of the location calculated using Dijkstra’s algorithm and displayed on the
of the dustbins using GPStracking devices. ThingSpeak homepage. The data could be monitored using
Xiao & Lu (2010) presented a modified Dijkstra’s any smart device.
algorithm for optimal tracking operation. Heuristic
Algorithm
algorithms have been employed to solve the tracking
problem by Johnson & Shyni (2019). Sinha et al. (2015) The nearest pathways between the necessary nodes in
presented a detailed survey of algorithms and provided a graph which could, for instance, represent a network
a comparative analysis. The algorithms presented include of roads are found using Dijkstra’s algorithm. Edger W.
Nearest Neighbour, Genetic algorithm, Ant colony, Integrated Dijkstra, a computer scientist, created it in 1956. The original
NearestNeighbour Algorithm and Genetic Algorithm, Floyd Dijkstra algorithm identified the shortest route between two
Warshall and Dijkstra’s algorithm. specified nodes. The algorithm determines the fastest way
between a source node and every other node in the graph
Proposed Technique for a given source node. By entering the node address in the
The project titled “Smart dustbin using IoT” is implemented application, it can also be used to determine the shortest
to provide a clean environment that involvesfeatures such as routes from one source node to one destination node. The
automatic opening and closing as well as detection of waste illustration of the Dijkstra algorithm is explained through
level in the dustbins. A block diagram is a simple diagram an example. Consider a graph having 5 nodes each with
used to represent a system’s principle parts or functions different costs between the nodes.
by blocks. The blocks are connectedby lines that show the From the graph the adjacency matrix is formed by
relationship between the blocks. In this chapter, the block assuming the distance between the nodes to be infinity and
diagram of the proposed technique is also being discussed. theknown distances to be zero. The previous vector is also
The techniques incorporated include automatically assumed to be zero.
opening and closing the dustbin lids and continuously
Software
detecting waste levels in the dustbin. The level of waste is
recorded in Thing Speak cloud platform and notified when Arduino UNO collects the data from the IR sensor and
the dustbin gets almost filled. The shortest path to find the ultrasonic sensor. The results collected by the Arduino UNO
location of the filled dustbins is calculated using Dijkstra’s are fed to the ThingSpeak cloud along with the dustbin’s
algorithm. location displayed on the ThingSpeak window. Channels
Figure 1 represents the overall block diagram of the can be created to display various results. Here the position
project. The waste which is thrown in the dustbin is denoted of the dustbin i.e., whether the dustbin is closed or not is
as the object to be sensed. The infrared sensor senses the displayed through an indicator.If the dustbin is opened the
movement of humans and automatically opens the dustbin indication on the ThingSpeak window changes to green.
lid. The ultrasonic sensor senses the level of waste thrown The level of the dustbin is displayedon another channel by
in the dustbin continuously. The programs to facilitate displaying some value. Figure 3. shows the results displayed
the working of sensors, servo motor, uploading of data in on the ThingSpeak window.
ThingSpeak cloud, and finding the shortest path are coded The simulation tool used is MATLAB. The simulation
in the Arduino Uno. When a human is detected, the signal is done to find the shortest distance between the filled
dustbins by using Dijkstra’s algorithm assuming there are

Figure 1: Block diagram Figure 2: Graph considered for Dijkstra Algorithm

415 Smart Dustbin using IOT

pathto be traveled with minimum distance. Implementing

Dijkstra’s algorithm using the MATLAB simulation tool helps
implement it in real time.
Hardware
The hardware components used and their purposes are
listedbelow:
• The main purpose of an infrared sensor is to detect
motion by emitting infrared radiation hence it is used
for human detection.
• The ultrasonic sensor measures distance by emitting
ultrasonic sound waves, thus it is chosen to measure
the level of waste inside the dustbins.
• For automatic opening and closing of dustbin lids servo
motors are used because they can rotate with greater
precision.
• The Arduino UNO controller was chosen for its easy
Figure 3: Thing speak window programming environment.
• The Wi-Fi module is chosen for making the data available
in the cloud environment.
• All the components used are of 5V rating hence a step-
down transformer 230V/5V is used to feed the power
supply board.
Circuit Diagram
Figure 5. gives the overall circuit diagram of the project.
The 230V AC supply is stepped down to 5V to supply the
Arduino UNO, servo motor, Wi-Fi module and LCD display.
The LCD is connected with the Arduino which displays
human detection along with the level of the dustbin. The
Wi-Fi module is connected with the Arduino and provides the
data to be available in the ThingSpeak cloud homepage. The
sensors are connected to the Arduino board for performing
Figure 4: Simulation Output
opening, closing, and level detection. The 6V battery is
50 nodes. The algorithm in real time application helps the used to supply power to the servo motor for automatically
truck driver find the nearest filled dustbin, reducing fuel opening and closing the dustbins.
consumption and saving time.
The simulation is done by assuming 50 nodes. For real
Hardware Setup
time application, the position of the dustbin should be Figure 6. shows the hardware model of the project. The IR
known to find the shortest distance. In the simulation, the sensor detects human intervention and provides opening
location of the nodes is randomly assumed since a random
function is usedin the MATLAB code. It can also be manually
given by giving the location of the nodes assuming it to be a
three-dimensional plane.
The nodes that are represented in the simulation are
the location of the dustbins. So, when the location is fed as
information in the Arduino UNO, it will perform the code and
display the shortest way between each node. The location
can be manually given or automatically detected by location
detectors like GPS/GSM.
Dijkstra’s algorithm is implemented using a real time cost
matrix. The example considered here demonstrates the
process of finding the shortest path between the source
nodeand all other nodes. The user will be able to identify the Figure 5: Circuit Diagram
416 S Prabhakaran et al. The Scientific Temper. Vol. 14, No. 2

motor automatically opens The dustbin’s cover when the

IR sensor triggers any disturbance. The ultrasonic sensor is
positioned inside the trash can to gauge how full it is. Figure
7. shows the signal for human detection so that it can open
the dustbin’s lid automatically. Figure 8. shows the level of
dustbins filled by displaying it on the LCD display.
The project’s ideology is to provide a clean environment
and prevent the overflow of waste. This concept was put
into practice by automatically opening and closing the
trash cover with IR sensors based on human detection and
level detection with ultrasonic sensors. This setup can also
be implemented in real time with components of higher
Figure 6: Hardware setup
ratings. The smart device can be given to the truck drivers
so that they can pick the waste once filled.

Conclusion
When the garbage level reaches its peak, this project’s
construction of a smart trash can using IoT as hardware
ensures that the trash can will be cleaned as soon as possible.
This system employs IR and ultrasonic sensors to detect the
amount of rubbish in the trash can and to automatically close
and open the trash can. Implementing Dijkstra’s algorithm
in simulation helps find the shortest distance among the
filled dustbins. The smart dustbin using IoT system makes
garbage collectionmore efficient, less time consuming and
Figure 7: Human detection reduces fuel consumption for truck drivers. Any of the smart
cities can use this trash can models. The deployment of a
trash collecting and monitoring system for the collection
of waste from the city can be well-directed for collection.

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