The Compost Professor: A Smart Composting System

Note - This is Version 3 of the Smart Composting System that I built as part of the 2017 US-China Co-Making The Future Contest.

Description

Per the EPA, food scraps and yard waste make up 20-30% of what we throw away. These materials could instead be composted, keeping waste out of landfills and reducing methane gas emissions.

Unfortunately, most do not compost, due to ignorance on the benefits of composting, misunderstanding of what can be composted, or lack of desire to manage compost.

The Compost Professor is a smart composting system that helps to address these issues by making the science of composting simple for today’s home owner. The Compost Professor uses analytics and artificial intelligence to help anyone successfully create compost with minimal effort.

Where possible, the system will act on the user’s behalf to take corrective actions to accelerate the composting process. When human intervention is needed, the system tells the user what should be added to the compost and when the compost bin should be turned. In addition, the system tracks when compost is ready for use.

Details

Overview

The Compost Professor is designed to simplify the compost creation process. The system automates much of the compost creation process. When user interaction is needed, the system will tell the user:

• What to add

• When to turn the compost

• When to refill to the internal water reservoir

• When to replace or charge batteries

• When compost is ready for use.

Physical Units

• Compost Unit - A compost tumbler that contains temperature and moisture sensors used to monitor the health of the compost. The bin will also take corrective actions as needed: automating air flow and compost hydration. The sensors are contained within an enclosed compost tumbler, reducing uncomfortable smells that disturb neighbors and attract rodents. The Compost Unit transmits data using radio packets and therefore can be positioned over 300 yards away from the Base Unit (which resides inside the home).

• Base Unit- This unit relays data from the Compost Unit to the Compost Professor Cloud, which analyzes the data and makes recommendations on actions needed. This unit can be stored in a corner or under a desk.

• Kitchen Handheld Unit – This is a small, rechargeable, battery-powered touchscreen device that is meant to sit on the kitchen counter. The user can quickly check the state of the compost using the touchscreen. The unit will inform the user if any action is needed (e.g. turn the compost bin, add green materials, add brown materials, replace the batteries).

Assembly Instructions

Full instructions can be found here - > https://hackaday.io/project/24933-the-compost-professor-a-smart-composting-system

Files

STL Files.zip: STL files for 3D prints

Compost Professor Instructions.pdf: Instructions to use an assembled compost professor system

Compost Professor Business Case.pdf: Compost Professor Business Case

icons.zip: Bitmap icons for Kitchen Unit (put in the root folder on the SD card)

Arduino Files.zip: Arduino INO files for the Base, Compost, and Kitchen units