Solar Powered Reverse Trash Vendo Machine

The study was conducted with the purpose of developing a Solar Powered Reverse Trash Vend Machine that aims to encourage people to engage in recycling and to diminish the practice of improper  waste disposal in the Philippines. The device used a Gizduino X ATMega 1281 as its main processing module along with a Gizduino 644 microcontroller board, anda GSM Shield module for communication. Arduino1.6IDE is used to program the Gizduinoboards. The device is powered by a 15V rechargeable battery, which is charged by a solar panel retrofitted at the roof of the device, this is to promote energy conservation, and green engineering principles in the development of the study. The device can process empty plastic bottles(500ml. max) with a base diameter of 3.5 inches, and aluminum cans. These recyclable materials are placed inside the machine and is scanned, then crushed and placed in a bin. An inductive sensor is used to detect either the material is a plastic bottle or an aluminum can. To compensate the user for recycling, inequivalent monetary value will be dispensed. The owner of the device can check the status of the coin dispenser and bins through an Android messaging application developed using the Eclipse IDE and the Java programming language, and when a certain limit is reached by the coin dispenser or the trash bins, an automatic text message notification will be sent to the owner.

Keywords –Green Engineering, Solar-Powered, Recycling, Reverse-Vendo Machine.