Assignment in Design 5: Systems. Fall 2017 @ NTNU. Group project
The task of this project was to look at an actual challenge from one of a selected group of companies, and propose how it could be solved 5 years into the future. My group chose TOMRA, who are most known for their reverse vending machines for bottle recycling, but are at least equally big in handling and sorting trash in general. Our solution centered around an autonomous vehicle that would collect unsorted trash and drive it to a sorting hub, from where it would be transported to larger recycling plants, as well as an app for users to interact with the system. The intention was that this system would both consume fewer resources than current garbage disposal systems, increase the rate of recycling by letting machines sort trash instead of humans, and making people aware of the amount of trash they produce.
The System
We decided to look at the areas where Tomra's expertise would have the biggest impact, as well as where innovation is most needed. Our main focus was chosen to be whatever the user would be in most contact with; the car and it's supporting functions.
The Wireframes
The app allows users to both get to know the system, look at stats over personal consumption and call for a vehicle if an immediate pick-up is needed. The car is designed to interact with pedestrians in a friendly, non-intrusive manner, by acknowledging their presence with an LED strip around the car, and carefully avoiding both static and moving obstacles.