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When it comes to publicly accessible waste bins, one size doesn’t fit all. Waste bins in heavily populated locations can easily overflow, while those in less populated areas often remain empty. Furthermore, waste disposal trends for these different locations may fluctuate over time. All of this can quickly add up to inefficient waste management, such as collecting from empty or nearly empty bins, or failing to collect full bins in a timely manner. This can waste time and resources, and force citizens to either locate another bin or even litter.
Tackling such problems has become the mandate of Sensoneo. Their enterprise-grade Sensoneo Waste Monitoring Solution has been developed to help cities and businesses manage their waste more efficiently.
We recently caught up with Martin Kosák, Marketing Manager at Sensoneo, to talk about this unique IoT solution that incorporates the Qualcomm® 9206 LTE IoT Modem for connectivity.
Overview
The Sensoneo Waste Monitoring solution combines Sensoneo Smart Sensors, Smart Waste Management System, and Citizen App to provide an end-to-end waste management platform, as shown in Figure 1 below.
Let’s look at how this solution works. First, Sensoneo unique Smart Sensors are placed in waste bins to sense and collect data about waste levels, temperature, tilt alarm, and fire alarm
Next, data from these sensors are collected and transferred over cellular connectivity to the cloud and immediately processed by the Sensoneo Smart Waste Management System. The system comprises a powerful cloud-based platform and dashboard.
The Smart Waste Management System helps waste management operators actively plan efficient waste collection based on near-real-time views of the waste levels reported by the bins in their deployments.
Citizens can also benefit from this system using the Sensoneo Citizen App. This free mobile app informs the user of the nearest-available empty bin and allows them to provide real-time feedback about bin levels or other issues to help make an area greener, cleaner, and free of litter.
The sensors installed in the bins have been purpose-built for their environment and tasks. The casings are made from recyclable polyimide optical fibers that provide a robust, eco-friendly, and recyclable design. They’re water and shock resistant, fully functional within wide temperature ranges, and can measure levels of waste from 3 cm to 400 cm. The sensors can monitor any type of waste (including liquids) in bins of various types and sizes, including boxes and other containers. In addition, the sensors can also monitor for temperature, fires, and tilts and can recognize pick-ups during waste collection.
Key Learnings
Martin says the development of their solution was in response to demand – waste collectors were looking for ways to avoid collecting half-empty bins to reduce costs while preventing bins from overflowing. Martin says that Sensoneo was originally focused on large-capacity and semi-underground bins but soon recognized many other opportunities in waste management beyond monitoring, which led them towards the overall digitalization of the industry.
In terms of key learnings from development, Martin notes that such deployments must handle several variables, so focusing on testing in diverse environments is important. Given the environments in which the sensors must operate, this is one type of IoT deployment where you don’t want to make compromises that could affect reliability. Here he stressed the importance of incorporating components that you can trust, and why Sensoneo chose the Quectel LTE BG96 module to meet their needs. The Quectel LTE BG96 is based on the Qualcomm 9206 modem. The Qualcomm 9206 narrowband multi-mode LTE modem combines the high reliability, low latency, and voice support of LTE Cat-M1 (eMTC) with the extended coverage and delay tolerance of Cat NB-1 (NB-IoT). According to Neset Yalcinkaya, VP of Products and General Manager for R&D at Quectel, Together our teams have written a new equation: Sensoneo + Quectel = Smart Waste.
The Future
Martin says that data-driven waste management is the future, and Sensoneo IoT solutions are ready to cope with current challenges, including efficiency, transparency, and sustainability. Accurate data and efficient processes will become a must. Smart sensors solve one part of the challenge as they facilitate on-time waste collection of bins with irregular filling cycles.
However, other challenges include the efficient set-up of the waste collection routes, frequencies, and vehicle loads. Automated route planning will provide optimal collection routes, digitalization of waste infrastructure, and driver navigation apps will support waste collectors in their transition to dynamic waste collection.
Looking to the future, Martin says the digital transformation of waste management is inevitable, and Sensoneo wants to be the solution provider for organizations that want to make this transition a success.
For more information about the Qualcomm 9206 IoT Modem and similar platforms, check out the Startup Kits page on QDN.
And if you have an innovative technology or solution that you’ve developed using Qualcomm Technologies, be sure to tell us about it, and we may feature it on QDN.
Qualcomm 9206 is a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
