OMNOM - Automatic Trash Bin

Hey all!

Omnom is our Arduino prototype for a school project called Happy Hacking. It is a touch sensitive trash bin for in trains that automatically opens and closes when activated, and then rewards users for throwing their trash away.

We made this because we were frustrated about the amount of litter on the train, and the gross trash bins there. To make throwing trash away fun again, we designed this happy hack. Because it is touch sensitive and reacts to light touch, you don't have to make your hands filthy opening the trash bin anymore. The reward system will make throwing litter away a good experience, which will help stimulate people in keeping the train clean.

This Instructable will show you how to make your very own Omnom!

Step 1: What Do You Need to Make Omnom?

To build our prototype, you will need a couple of things:

- 1 Arduino Uno

- LED-lampjes
- Wiring for prototyping on a breadboard
- 1 servo motor
- 1 small plastic trash bin
- 1 force sensitive sensor
- 220Ω Resistor
- 1MΩ Resistor
- Wires for soldering
- Soldering tin
- Soldering iron
- Material to lenghten the arm of the Servo
- Arduino Software: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software

Step 2: Code

Voor het uploaden van de code naar je arduino:

First, install the Arduino software on your computer if you haven't already. You can find the software on https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software .Then, follow these steps to upload the code to your arduino.

- Download our code file
- Unzip the file
- Open the Arduino software
- Attach your Arduino to your computer using an USB cable
- Open the code file
- Click the Upload button (triangle pointing right)

If the software gives an error, try troubleshooting using the internet.

If you want to test your code, you can attach the wires, LED lights, servo and sensor to the breadboard and arduino, using the scheme above. Do remember that LED lights have a plus and a minus side, mixing those up will result in the light ignoring any current.

Step 3: Soldering Wires

Soldering is the least fail-proof part of this Instructable. Luckily for everyone, the biggest part of it is fairly easy, for this you can copy the scheme above. (testing this setup with a breadboard first is, however, recommended.)

The harder part is soldering the reward LED-lights. You need to attach all plus sides to other plus sides of the LED lights, and do the same with all the minus sides. Make sure they touch nowhere. Then, solder the plus side to a red wire, and the minus side to a blue or black wire, but with a 320 Ohm resistor inbetween it.

If you've soldered everything correctly, attaching it to your Arduino while it is powered should result in a working system.

Step 4: Putting Omnom Together

If your system is all soldered and working, you can now put Omnom together to make a working automatic trash bin.

First of all, the arm of the servo is probably too short to push open the top of the trash bin. To fix this, you will need to lengthen the arm in some way. We chose to attach a piece of metal to it because it's strong. Find a place in your trash bin where the servo can push open the lid of the bin. To make sure your servo doesn't move from that spot, tape it tight to the bin or use glue. If you have a trash bin that is made of a strong material, you could also drill a hole in it and attach the servo with screws. Make sure there is a way for the servo wires to lead out of the bin. We had to cut a small hole in the lid for this purpose.

Next, you should choose a fitting place for the touch sensitive sensor to be positioned. We chose the top of the lid, because it feels intuitive to open it that way. Attach it to the trash bin using glue or tape.

Then, attach the reward lights to your trash bin, wherever you think looks good. If you can still see the circuit board you soldered the LED-lights on, you might want to cover that up with something the colour of the bin. We put black paper on top of the circuit board.

Lastly, if you want your arduino to be attached to your trash bin, you can do that as well. We temporarily taped one of our Arduino UNO's to the back of Omnom, so that it wouldn't be too visible during our presentation.

Step 5: Omnom Is Done!

If everything works, you now have a working automatic trash bin! Good job, Omnom is proud of you.