Billie The Kid

Group Members: Ariana Gibbons, Joshua Donald, Beckett Dunning, Xia Josiah-Faeduwor

 

 

 

Billie The Kid The Problem Statement: Brief Description: Technologies: Materials: Project Specifications: To Do List/Conceptual Design Features: Reference/History Of Project: Update History: Concerns: Design Photos: Daily Goals and Accomplishments:  Billie Talking Scripts Problems Encountered: Designing Billie: Brainstorming Ideas: Feedback: Final Thoughts On Billie ...

 

The Problem Statement:

 

As one is able to see by simply walking down the street, littering is a trend which has run rampant throughout our modern age. While trash cans are available and are able to reduce the amount of waste slightly, there is still much room for improvement. The goal of our project is to create a trash can which children and young adults may find interesting and entertaining to use, hopefully prompting them to dispose of their waste in a more 'environmentally friendly' way. Over the course of these three weeks, we will create Billie V2, so named by my colleagues as Billie The Kid, a machine which will make waste disposal fun and reduce the litter which we see on the streets of our city.

 

Brief Description:

 

Billie is a talking trash can designed to get kids excited about throwing away trash rather than littering. He opens and closes at the touch of a button, is primarily solar-powered and will be easily accessible to all the members of the community.

 

Technologies:

 

Scratch/Arduino - Initially, we are going to use scratch technology to write the program which will power the lid of our trash can, but after it becomes available, we are going to use Arduino to create the program.

GIMP - This is the image editing software available to us, and we will use this to create all of the images for our wikia page as well as various things for our actual trash can.

Fab Lab - This is going to have many applications in our project. Because tit is going to be made almost entirely of wood, the machine is going to need to be made mostly on the shop bot. Joshua has been making the sketches for the design, and it is ultimately going to look like the concept illustrations which you can see below.

 

Materials:

 

Wood - We will be constructing the better part of the trash can with wood, so it will need to be strong and durable. (Note: Due to the fact that wood can rot or become damaged over time, and is not necessarily the most efficient material to use outside this may change as we go on n the construction process.

LCD Display - We will be using the LCD display from an XO Laptop for the face of Billy. Because the XO laptop is capable of running on extremely low power (as compared to other laptops and netbooks), it is ideal for use in something like our trash can which only will be able to generate a limited amount of power with its on-board solar panels.

Solar Panels - We are going to use these to power the trash can rather than needing another source of power.

Paint - We do not want the robot to be simply unfinished wood, so we are going to cover it with a layer, or a few layers of paint. This is going to enhance the look of things, and make it safer to children and the general public. (Splinters are bad!) lol

Mirrors - These are going to be used to reflect the light of the sun into the solar panels.

Gears - The roof/lid of the trash will be a mechanical device which will be able to open

on its own. The motor will be connected to the gears, and with the proper allocation of gears and force, we will be able to open the lid, which will be relatively heavy, and be able to deposit trash into the opening.

Motors - These will power the entirety of the lid. The power that the solar panels collect will be directed into the motors which will power the lid of our trash cans.*1

Batteries - These will be used to store power which will be used to lift the lid of our trash can. Also some power will be drawn from it to give energy to the screen which will be the face of Billy.

 

Project Specifications:

 

• Capacity fits 13 gallon trash cans
• Dimensions - Diagonal 13in  Width - 10.5in  Height - 28.25in
• Height with lid opening - 36.5in 

 

To Do List/Conceptual Design Features:

 

• Build a Full Working Billie
• Advertisement - We need to create images for shirts which will show our machine and its functionality.
• Finalize materials decisions/obtain building resources 
• Research power consumption/power available using solar panels 
• Finalize Gears Mechanism 

 

Integration of a sleep function would be extremely helpful. Once Billie is built we may include some form of a motion sensor so that Billie is always of unless someone approached him. Once this happened, the screen could turn on, and you could see the face. While the LCD screen is very energy efficient, it is still going to be drawing power from the on-board batteries, so every moment it is on is a little bit less energy that will be there when it is needed. By integrating this sleep function, we would be saving energy, and expanding the working life of Billie significantly. (We would however have to figure out how to make/utilize an effective sensor if we were going to implement this, and that could prove to be one of the major challenges.

 

 

Reference/History Of Project:

 

Push - The Talking Moving Trashcan

 

Push The Talking Moving Trashcan as seen below is currently one of the many mobile trash cans which is located in Disney World. These trash cans are powered, and are able to move around on their own with minimal problems. These cans are able to excite those who pass by, and children even will follow them around wishing to interact and play with them (as can be seen by the children in the right of the image. One major difference about these cans however is that the trash can opens from the front rather than opening from the top, something which may be very good to include when we further the construction of our project.

 

 

 

iTouchless TX

 

This was added, because we thought that in the future, we could change the top so that it does not so much lift up as slide back. This would however require different mechanisms than what we have or what was used on Billie V1 in the past. It would however reduce the weight that the motor would have to lift. There would however be more of an opportunity to get water inside the device if it was raining, and this would not be the best thing for it in the long run.

 

 

Do Solar Panels Work When It's Cloudy?

 

This is an interesting source to use which actually addresses the question if solar panels will work in cloudy weather. It would be a cool thing to check out for anyone who was wondering about this topic! 

 

http://www.energypoweralternatives.com/2010/05/04/do-solar-panels-work-when-its-cloudy/

 

 

Autobot Touch

 

This trash can is similar to ours, because it also uses a form of a touch sensor to open. This can uses an infrared beam to detect when someones hand is near it, and then it opens up by itself automatically. We hope to also be able to do something like this, but we would use a touch sensor from Arduino instead, and we may also use one which is more sensitive to detect when a person comes close to the can.

 

 

Update History:

 

Day 1 - 7/7/10

Creation of PB Workspace page has started. 

First design sketch has been completed.

Preliminary design for gear mechanism has been completed.

Preliminary (miniaturized) design made of cardboard has been made and constructed.

 

Day 2 - 7/8/10

Work on PB Workspace has continued

Rethinking of design has occurred, and new concept sketches are being created.

We are determining what type of materials we will need/ how much power they need to oporate,

Feedback is being incorporated into our project to make it more durable and functional.

 

Day 3 - 7/12/10

Arduino workshop with Ed was attended

Construction of primary infra red sensor (used for button) was completed

Construction of gear reduction mechanism completed

Learned how to use Arduino to lift the trash can lid.

Use of Processing rather than Scratch will be implemented into our trashcan design

 

Day 4 - 7/13/10

Worked on Scratch design for face of Billie

Thought about possibly getting new XO laptops???

Redesigned Billie - possible spinning lid rather than lifting up???

 

Day 5 - 7/14/10

Looked for possible trash cans for Billie

Purchased trash can

Found specifications of can and created a new sketch based off of these.

Began to design the extensions for solar panels.

 

Day 6 - 7/15/10

Thought about how we would go about cutting the trash can

Continued to design the face using Scratch

Added more emotions to Billie

Perhaps we can begin to port the scratch program to the XO after today, because it should be just about finished by then.

 

Day 7 - 7/19/10

Discussed whether or not we would paint BIlly with regular paint OR spray paint him.

Spent most of the day trying to get the motor to work.

We tested the blue paint on Billy and it dried quickly but leaves white streaks if not done intricately.

 

Day 8 - 7/21/10

Tested 2 different spray paints to see which texture was better on the trashcan. 

Created a script for BIlly and came to the conclusion that we would have 3 different buttons on him that would state 3 different facts about littering. 

Recorded voice 

Called different hardware stores in search of blue spray paint. 

 

 

Concerns:

 

*1 - Due to the weight of the trash can lid, the motors are going to need to do a good deal of work on it in order to lift it. This problem is two fold, for on the first hand the motors need to be powerful enough to lift the weight of the lid. Secondly the solar panels which we use need to be able to generate enough power to power the motors, and because this will be done entirely by solar energy (at least in the concept design) there may be problems with using the trash cans on days when there is not a lot of sun, not to mention at night. These solar panels are going to need to power two motors as well as a small LCD screen, so there is going to be a large drain on them. This is where is propose a change. BC1 - Instead of having the robot run purely on solar power, I think that we should implement batteries into the system as well. When I was originally planning to create the liquid cooled shirt, I was going to use flat rechargeable batteries in order to power the shirt. These are efficient, because they are rather inexpensive, and they do not take up much space. What we could do is we could put several of these batteries into the trash can, and we could set it so when no one was around, the trash can would not do anything. The excess power from the solar energy collected during the day would be inputted into charging the batteries. This would provide for a less limited power supply as well as well as power during the night. Also, in worst case scenario (such as having a week of rain and limited charging time), we could also include an AC adapter point in case at some point it was needed.

 

7/12/10

 

We are not sure whether to use Processing or Scratch for the construction/animation of the face design. We will have to determine this soon, and try to get a preliminary code for the Processing interface to see which is going to work better in the future.

 

7/21/10

We are not sure whether or not to use the solar panel or not; the way this project is going, we just may drop that idea... 

 

Design Photos:

 

Billie V2 Concept Model No. 2

 

Billie V2 Concept Model No. 1

 

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Gear Mechanism First Design

 

 

Pictures of Arduino/Modkit

 

 

 

Daily Goals and Accomplishments: 

 

7/19/10

 

• Get the motors working
• Determine whether or not we will spray paint Billy or paint him with the acrylic paint we found in the fab lab
• Record the voice for BIlly
• Figure out how we will incorporate speakers into the project
•  IF TIME REMAINS: --
• Figure out where we would get the solar panels and how big we would need to cut the side of the trash can to fit the panels.

 

Isometric View of BIlly:

 

 

Link on Painting Plastic:

 

http://www.finishing.com/73/59.shtml

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081213100144AA83Gwt

 

 7/21/10

 

• Determine whether or not to use spray paint with primer included or to use them separately 
• Also, make sure these spray paints will stick on plastic 
• Get the motor working 

 

7/22/10

 

 

Billie Talking Scripts

 

 

Script as of 7/21:

 

Hi, I’m Billy

I’m a trashcan

You can click these buttons on my side to find out more about keeping community clean.

Button 1: Cloud cut out of acrylic

Trash on the streets makes the air dirty and can make it harder for you to breathe.   

(Cough)

(sad face)

Button 2:  Fish Button

Littering not only makes our community look ugly, but it can hurt the animals and our environment.

(sad face) have an image of an animal in danger and place Billy in the image and make it seem like he’s flashing back. (3 sec)

Button 3: Dollar sign

The United States is spending millions of dollars to keep people from littering; to help, all you have to do is throw your trash away.

(Amped face)

 

 

Problems Encountered:

 

Day 1 - 7/7/10

 

• The original Billy is nowhere to be found, so we are going to have to start again from scratch ... literally!
• It was mentioned that wood may not be the best material to build Billie out of due to the simple fact that over time wood rots. Perhaps we could consider something like plastic instead. It was also suggested that we try to find something that is already partially completed to make the machine out of rather than starting from scratch. This would not only expedite the process, but it would also make the machine more durable and enduring. 

 

Day 7 - &/

 

Designing Billie:

 

Annotated Trash Can No. 1

 

 

Possible Trash Cans No. 1

 

 

Possible Trash Cans No. 2

 

 

Possible Trash Cans No. 3 (Used)

 

Brainstorming Ideas:

 

 

Blueprints of Design

 

 

 

Schematics by Joshua D

 

 

Trash Can Design

 

 

 

Possible Trash Can Top Design

 

 

 

Feedback:

 

Day 2 - 7/8/10

 

It was thought that it may be easier to add a rotating function to the trash can rather than having it go up, because this would be more efficient, and it may last longer over time. I too think that this may be a good thing to add to the design, but as a group, we also wanted to stay true to the original design which we had from before. This overall design may however change over time. 7/8/10 - This function may be useful, and we will see it this may be implemented with time, but right now we are still leaning towards keeping it opening from the top, as it seems that this has worked in the past. We may still add this later though if it proves to be more effective than what we had.

 

A history section is needed. I mentioned that there are machines similar to this in Disney World, and we may wish to include this as a reference in our project. 7/8/10 - Added

 

Final Thoughts On Billie ...