This thesis describes the development of a system to prevent unauthorized use of municipal waste containers. First, a brief overview of the new model of waste disposal and what it requires from citizens and users is given. Based on this, the development goal was defined, and the development project plan was presented. This is followed by a description of the steps taken as part of the conception phase, starting with the analysis of the market, patents, and existing solutions in the City of Zagreb. These analyses served for a better understanding of the container locking system and gathering ideas for potential solutions to the given problem. To gather information about waste disposal habits, interviews were conducted with several users of communal services in Zagreb and with an employee of the communal company "Čistoća". Based on the data collected through interviews, analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of user needs and the formulation of functional requirements for the product were carried out. In the next step, a morphological matrix was created, in which partial solutions for individual functions were proposed, and by combining which different conceptual solutions of the product were obtained. The concepts were compared with each other according to the selected criteria, and the best rated ones were initially designed, where individual details and increased functionality were worked out in more detail. At the end of the conceptualization phase, one concept was selected for more detailed structural elaboration and detailing using DfX guidelines. The chosen concept is a device for locking municipal waste containers, which can be unlocked contactlessly with standard RFID tags or cards. The device also unlocks automatically after turning a certain angle, such as when emptying a container into a garbage truck. This functionality proved to be in accordance with the needs gathered by the users and the utility company. In the design development phase, a detailed analysis of the components was made, in which their names, shapes, dimensions and materials were defined, and a way of attaching the device to the tank and its maintenance was designed.
Mateo Šimac
2023
Bachelor thesis
