IoT Garbage Monitoring With Weight Sensing

This guide will help you create an IoT-based Garbage Monitoring System using weight sensors. The system will monitor the fill level of garbage bins and provide real-time updates and alerts when the bins are full or near capacity.

Components Required

• Raspberry Pi (Model 3 or later)
• Weight sensors (e.g., load cells)
• HX711 load cell amplifier module
• Connecting wires and breadboard
• Power supply (for Raspberry Pi)
• Cloud service account (e.g., ThingSpeak, Blynk, or AWS IoT)
• Optional: Buzzer or LED (for local alerts)

Setting Up the Hardware

Follow these steps to set up the hardware:

1. Connect the Weight Sensors

   Attach the load cells to the garbage bin and connect them to the HX711 amplifier module. The HX711 will amplify the signals from the load cells, allowing the Raspberry Pi to read them accurately.

2. Wire the HX711 to the Raspberry Pi

   Connect the HX711 module to the Raspberry Pi GPIO pins. Ensure proper connections for the data and clock pins.

3. Power the System

   Ensure the Raspberry Pi and HX711 module are properly powered using the appropriate power supplies.

Programming the Raspberry Pi

Write the code to read data from the weight sensors and send updates to the cloud. Below is an example using Python and the HX711 library:

                import time
                import board
                import digitalio
                from hx711 import HX711
                import requests

                # Configuration
                DOUT_PIN = 5
                CLK_PIN = 6
                CLOUD_URL = "https://api.thingspeak.com/update?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY"
                FILL_THRESHOLD = 5000  # Adjust based on calibration

                # Initialize HX711
                hx711 = HX711(digitalio.DigitalInOut(board.D5), digitalio.DigitalInOut(board.D6))

                def send_alert(weight):
                    response = requests.get(f"{CLOUD_URL}&field1={weight}")
                    print(f"Alert sent to cloud: {response.status_code}")

                try:
                    while True:
                        weight = hx711.get_weight_mean(10)
                        print(f"Current weight: {weight} grams")

                        if weight >= FILL_THRESHOLD:
                            send_alert(weight)
                            print("Garbage bin is full or near capacity!")

                        time.sleep(60)  # Check every minute

                except KeyboardInterrupt:
                    print("Program terminated")
            

This Python code reads weight data from the HX711 module. If the weight exceeds a specified threshold, it sends an alert to the cloud service.

Setting Up Cloud Integration

To monitor and receive alerts, integrate the system with a cloud service. Configure your cloud service to receive data from the Raspberry Pi and set up notifications or alerts based on the data received.

Testing and Calibration

Test the system by adding weight to the garbage bin and verifying that the weight is accurately measured and that alerts are correctly sent to the cloud. Adjust the weight threshold and code parameters as needed for reliable performance.