Binbot 9000 Trawls James Bruton’s Home in Search of Garbage
James Bruton has come up with a robotic solution to the problem of household trash receptacle locale.
Some projects are completely practical and others are just plain silly. But many fall somewhere in-between. Those are the kinds of mad scientist-style projects we all wish were more common, like Doc’s morning routine Rube Goldberg machine from the beginning of Back to the Future. James Bruton’s Binbot 9000 is a robotic trash can that is a perfect example of that sort of project.
This isn’t entirely a gag, because it does solve a real problem: trash cans never seem to be nearby when you need them. You probably need to walk into the kitchen and, if you’re in a fancy house, you might even need to open a cupboard. But the Binbot 9000 also isn’t very practical either, because few people want a trash can driving around their home. That’s especially true when you consider what Bruton had to do to help the robot navigate.
Binbot 9000 navigates and avoids obstacles using two methods. First, like a Roomba, it knows when it runs into something and will turn 90 degrees when it does. Second, it has a computer vision system. That system looks for simple black and white targets printed on sheets of paper. When it sees a target, it will rotate until it centers the target in the video frame and will then drive forward until it reaches the target. At that point, it will rotate to search for another target. By arranging targets around his home, Bruton was able to create paths for Binbot 900 to follow so it doesn’t need to rely on more complex mapping.
The computer vision software runs on an NVIDIA Jetson Nano single-board computer connected to a Raspberry Pi Camera. The Jetson sends commands to an Arduino Mega 2560 board that controls the two drive wheel motors. Those drive wheels also have encoders, which is how Binbot 9000 detects collisions. When it runs into something, the wheels will either slip or stall. The Arduino recognizes those conditions through the encoders and tells the Jetson that Binbot 9000 hit something.
The rest of Binbot 9000 is just a regular old trashcan sitting on a frame made of aluminum extrusion and 3D-printed parts. The exception is the lid lift mechanism, which is servo-actuated. Binbot 9000 responds to voice commands and will lift the lid when necessary so someone can deposit refuse. After they do, the lid closes and Binbot 9000 carries on its merry way.