Trash talk: A class 7th student of Modern Public School invents the Zero Touch Dustbin
New Delhi: Aryaman Aggarwal, a student of class 7th of Modern Public School (MPS) has recently designed a Zero Touch Dustbin to prevent the pathogens from spreading. Most of the dustbins that are in use these days tend to have a foot pedal that is needed to be pressed in order to open the lid. However, when people touch the pedal with their footwear, their footwear gets contaminated, which becomes a carrier for pathogens as the person moves from one place to another.
Aryaman’s design, however, eliminates this fatal flaw. Equipped with ultrasonic sensors, the Zero Touch Dustbin automatically opens the lid when a person comes near it, stays open for waste disposal, and then closes the lid by itself after a few seconds. Aryaman has kept the design simple and efficient to ensure that his idea remains affordable.
He has already created a working prototype using the following
· Waste plastic box as the dustbin
· Arduino UNO for programming the functionality
· Ultrasonic sensor to sense motion around the dustbin
· Micro servo motor to handle the rotary motion of the lid
· Buzzer to generate a “beep” sound when the lid opens and closes
· Power bank as the source of power supply
· Breadboard and wires for making connections
His idea has tremendous potential for strengthening the level of hygiene at the different places where the dustbins are used, including residential spaces, offices, shopping malls, cinema halls, gyms, hospitals, etc.
This isn’t the first time either when a student from MPS has come up with a paradigm shift in innovation. A few months back, when the country was dealing with its first lockdown, one of the students from MPS invented the “touchless doorbell” to reduce surface contact while another one invented a wrist band for maintaining social distancing.
Talking about the most recent exploit, Mrs. Alka Kapur, Principal, MPS, said, “I am extremely proud of Aryaman for coming up with such a novel idea and then showing the perseverance to develop a working prototype. At MPS, we always aim to distance ourselves from rote learning and develop inquisitiveness and innovative thinking among our students. Students like Aryaman inspire and motivate us to work even harder towards achieving this goal. We will support him to the fullest in his endeavors and do our best to help him secure a bright, prosperous future.”