PB&J| Sustaining Our Planet for Future Generations

Sustaining Our Planet for Future Generations

There is concern worldwide that environmental issues we face today will have an impact on future generations. Your challenge is to create a way to communicate the importance of environmental responsibility to people of all ages.

CHAKRA- Supporting Prosperity, Sustaining Posterity

Summary

1. CHAKRA is an application which will allow users to upload pictures of their unwanted/old electronic gadgets. We collect & recycle them. For the users, we ensure security of their data, safe disposal and give them reward points in return.2. It'll allow users to tag devices of their friends and family to gain reward points and be a part of our initiative. 3. It'll also be a portal for the buying and selling of 2nd hand electronic goods; so users get competitive prices while we ensure proper e-waste management.4. CHAKRA will keep tab of the e-waste being collected and will allocate 5% of this for contribution to Space Debris Removal programs.CHAKRA for creating a difference in the world!

How We Addressed This Challenge

What did we develop:


  1. We have developed a solution model for the ever increasing electronic world and subsequently, electronic waste. CHAKRA is an application which will enable a supply chain between users, who'll provide the raw materials, in the form of old or unwanted e-goods.
  2. This will then be transferred to our partner firms (e-firms, e-recycling firms, 2nd hand sellers).
  3. 5% of the materials will be however, reserved and transferred to space technology firms (like NASA) from time to time. This material can be recycled and then be used as our contribution to the space debris removal programs.
  4. The e-firms we are partnered with will offer discounts/goodies as the encashment/redemption of reward points.
  5. The users will also be able to check out fun space-related facts and e-waste related pointers on daily basis on the application.


Why is it important:


  1. Only (less than) 30% of the e-waste generated globally, is actually recycled annually. With the only growing electronics industry, we can see almost an exponential growth in the waste generated and not even a linear growth in the recycling of the same!
  2. There is no/very little awareness regarding safe disposal methods. Some famous e-firms also provide the facility of taking care of the damaged products, if given to them; but even then the rates of recycling are alarmingly low!
  3. There is trash not only on Earth but also in space- in the form of space debris. Since spacecrafts are made of high grade aluminum and so are electronic devices, CHAKRA, in the backend, keeps a record of the materials being collected and we contribute 5% of it to space debris removal space craft designs and/or debris trackers.
  4. E-waste affects:

a) air,

b) soil,

c) water and even,

d) humans

given its toxic nature.

Space debris affects:

a) smooth traversal of satellites.

b) possibility of debris dropping to the Earth.


What does CHAKRA do:


  1. It creates awareness among people to practice safe disposal to ensure security of their data and also health.
  2. It helps the partnered e-firms to recycle and re-use the materials to make their newer technological devices.
  3. It acts as an added motivation for the partnered space technology firms in the space debris removal programs that they might be designing/planning.
  4. The reward points will be an added incentive for the users to stay on the app and even tag devices of their friends and family.
  5. Helps the partnered e-firms in their CSR initiatives.


How does it work:


  1. Users log on and/tag devices.
  2. Users buy/sell 2nd hand e-goods.
  3. Users click photographs of the devices they wish to discard.
  4. CHAKRA deciphers the photographs to classify them into its device category and predicts the amount of recycled material that can be generated from it.
  5. CHAKRA then adds the reward points to the users' account accordingly and initiates the supply chain establishment.
  6. Partnered e-firms/ e-recycle firms are notified who then collect the devices and recycle them.
  7. Once a designated time period is over, CHAKRA triggers a notification to the e-firms and e-recycle firms with the amount of material they need to contribute to form the 5% material base for sending to the space technology firms.


What do we hope to achieve:


  1. We as a team, hope to create the much needed awareness among people especially those who mindlessly discard e-waste not knowing the harm it creates.
  2. We as a team, additionally want to help the partnered e-firms realize the recycling of e-waste into reality and use.
  3. We as a team, hope to create an impact not only on this planet where we live but also in the space we are in awe of!


How We Developed This Project

What inspired us to create CHAKRA:

"What goes around, comes around".

CHAKRA (also means 'wheel' in sanskrit) and is also our way to denote 'Recycling'.


  1. We all are inspired by technology but we also know the ill-effects of it when not used properly. CHAKRA is our way to promote healthy habits like recycling and hence, to maintain proper balance.
  2. Technology + Business + Creating impact on this world and environment - This has been our mission since the beginning and the space apps challenge provided us with just the platform we needed to put our ideas into action.
  3. We as engineers know the power of a single line of code. CHAKRA will help us write those essential lines of codes to help people recycle their e-waste and hopefully, in the coming years, for the underprivileged to be able to use the fruits of our re-cycled technological devices!



Our approach and tools used in developing CHAKRA:

We all have been heavily dependent on electronics nowadays. The millennials, the Gen Z or infact the septuagenarians are seen being either hooked on to their mobile phones or any electronic appliance that reduces their day to day mechanical task. Thus, the problem of electronic waste is prominent and will be leading centuries to come. We all must take proactive steps to reduce, reuse and recycle the electronic wastes in order to save our environment from degradation. Going by that philosophy, we have made an application named Chakra. Here are the following technical specifications of our application:


  1. Platform : The application will be developed in Java Native platform on Android studio SDK version 28.0.0.
  2. Image recognition: To improve waste collection planning, individuals would photograph the waste item and upload the image to the server, where it would be recognized and classified automatically. The proposed system can be operated on a server or through a mobile app. A novel method of classification and identification using neural networks is proposed for image analysis: a deep learning convolutional neural network (CNN) was applied to classify the type of e-waste, and a faster region-based convolutional neural network (R-CNN) was used to detect the category and size of the waste equipment in the images. The recognition and classification accuracy of the selected e-waste categories ranged from 90 to 97%. After the size and category of the waste is automatically recognized and classified from the uploaded images, e-waste collection companies can prepare a collection plan by assigning a sufficient number of vehicles and payload capacity for a specific e-waste project.
  3. Apache web server.
  4. For buying and selling of second hand electronic appliances, the secured payment gateway will be used which will offer various supports like UPI payment, GPay, Amazon pay, Paytm wallet payment offers along with our own Chakra wallet wherein the redeemed points will be transferred and can be used for further shopping by the customers.


Problems:


  1. Advertising
  2. Brand establishments
  3. Creating awareness
  4. People not using recycled electronics much.


Achievements:


  1. Systematic approach developed.
  2. Developed a list of potential partner firms and potential e-recycle firms.
  3. Developed a strategy to compete with the already established competitors in the market who are fully functioning in this business.



How We Used Space Agency Data in This Project

We plan to use NASA/Partner agencies' datasets in two ways:


  1. To check and subsequently predict (using regression and time series forecasting) the amount of e-waste that will be generated by 2025 (then later years as well) and the amount recycled, if our product isin't launched. We have used the 'Drop-off sites electronic waste' data sets for the same. We see that not even 50% of the e-waste generated for the particular area will be recycled in the current rate. But, we predict that once our product is launched, about 10% of the gap between recycled and generated will be built immediately. Also, we hope to bridge about 40% gap in the next 5 years and about 60-70% of the gap in the next 10 years.
  2. The recycling of the e-waste will be accompanied by a dip in the Global carbon footprint. We will closely monitor the year by year fruits of our hardwork with the assistance of JAXA data. The change in the environment can be closely monitored. the positive change will help us convince nations and global organisations to provide the necessary help for realizing our mission in the short term and vision, in the long term.


Project Demo
Data & Resources
Tags
#Environment #E-waste #DeepLearning #Sustainability #E-wallet #SpaceDebris #Pollution #UserFriendly
Judging
This project was submitted for consideration during the Space Apps Judging process.