Home automation company Rezzi just won the Protolabs Cool Idea Award for its "smart waste bin", SmartCan.
What is SmartCan
It is a special autonomous waste bin that guided by a smartphone app can go to throw the waste by itself and return alone to the base after being emptied.
Protolabs, a company that provides rapid prototyping and on-demand production, considered the innovation worthy of an award for its ability to combine different technologies.
How SmartCan works
The user can set a specific waste delivery day on his app, then the autonomous bin does it all by itself. He goes to the collection point, is lifted by the waste vehicle, and once deposited on the ground he sets off again in the direction of home.
"We want to help people eliminate unnecessary actions from their daily lives," says Andrew MurrayCEO Rezzi and creator of SmartCan. "We see an opportunity to go beyond the Internet of Things as a tool to turn on the lights or change music. There is a chance to alleviate the tiring monotony of different tasks we repeat on a daily basis."
Rezzi planned to bring SmartCan to the market by 2020, but the award received will help speed up the final stages of design and development. The timing will decrease by more than 6 months, adjusting the marketing calendar no later than June 2020: the construction process will also focus on 3D printed materials.
A noble purpose
"Autonomous robotic vacuum cleaners have helped keep the house clean. Electronic doorbells have contributed to safety. SmartCan helps manage household waste," says Vicky Holt, president & CEO of Protolabs.
"There are more and more autonomous devices in consumer electronics: their goal is to reduce the time we spend doing undesirable things to devote ourselves to things of greater value. "
