CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

OVERRULED IDEAS

► Improuved Communication System

After the food is served, the passengers will receive no-

tification in different ways about the waste collection:

first a notification via the app of the company, then via

the screen of the seat, then with the light of the aircraft

(symbol of recycling) + sound notification.

The user will start sorting following the instructions.

After this, while he/she waits for the f.a. he will receive

information via the devices about waste management.

Once the f.a. arrives the passenger gives the trashes al-

ready separated.

► Trolley shredder

Since currently the volume of the trash is a problem, this

could be tackled by installing a shredder onto a trolley

(alternatively, it could also be installed into the galley).

Airlines already have trash compactors, but many choo-

se not to use them since they are quite heavy. A shred-

der would be a technical solution to reduce the volume

of the waste on board. The upside of a shredder is that

it doesn’t take a lot of space, and a thorough shredding

can effectively reduce the volume of trash.

However, a shredder would come with significant pro-

blems: it would produce a lot of noice, which might di-

sturb passengers and staff. Furthermore, if this shredder

is used with food waste, cleaning it would be extremely

tedious and difficult. As a result, over time it might start

to smell horrible. But, most of all, Airbus already has a

lightweight trash compactor, so we decided to drop this

idea.

► Personal Trash Bag

The idea is that each passenger would have small tra-

shbags attached to the seat in front of them. They would

have three small different colored bags, where they can

sort their trash. This way, the trash is much easier to both

sort and collect. Since passengers can store trash in the

seats in front of them, the flight attendants need not col-

lect the waste so often, and when they do, passengers

can simply hand them a small bag with the waste in it.

As for separation, passengers can separate their waste

when they are putting it into the bags.

This would not only make separating easier for flight

attendants, but also help raise awereness for the pas-

sengers. The bags themselves would have instructions

on how to separate trash, and what to put where. Also,

another upside of this practice would be that cleaning

the planes would be easier. Since passengers can put

their trash, gum and whatever into the trashbags in front

of them, they hopefully would not put it in the seat pou-

ch or on the floor.

This idea does have its downsides too: the bags them-

selves would be trash, so worst case scenario is that they

only increase the amount of trash onboard. Also, if a si-

gnificant amount of passengers does not separate their

trash, or does it wrong, it might break the whole system.

► The waste system on board of the aircraft

This system is designed as an automatic food delivery

and waste collecting system in flight, which enable pas-

senger to order food, drink and tax-free items in the chair

by touch screen or voice control, to get their food in a

few minutes from intelligent vending machine delivered

by convey belt, and allow vacuum waste compress sy-

stem and air flow waste separation to recycle and store

the waste. After landing, waste collection trunk can di-

rectly unload all different kinds of waste.

The most important part is using sensor to recognize

paper and plastic from other unrecyclable trash and se-

parate them by airflow. The vacuum effect is conducted

by the pressure difference between inside and outside of

the airplane. It is also built under the cabin space, so that

passenger could be more comfortable.

The gains of the system are to reduce and recycle the

waste automatically without manual labor, to give more

space to passenger, to make the food service and waste

collection process more efficient. The pains are high for-

mer cost for machines and technique problem solving.

► The food purchasing system and personalised meals

Over the years, airplane food has gained a reputation for

being unappealing. So, it was our thinking that if we of-

fered quality, personalized meals passengers would not

bring their own food onboard, adding additional waste

for the aircraft to manage. Here’s how it would work:

1. At the point of purchase, passengers would choose

their onboard meal

2. A wide variety of meals, with detailed descriptions and

pictures would be available

3. The airline would partner with well know food franchi-

ses, Starbucks for example, so that customers could be

assured that they will receive a tasty, quality meal

4. The packaging for all meals would work in tandem

with the onboard waste management system.

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

► Flight attendant apron pouch

Everyday Flight Attendants have to phase the same pro-

blem regarding the passenger waste. Flight Attendants

don’t have any tools to quickly collect, sort, recycle or

in some cases even store the passenger waste. Apron

2016 is a newly designed apron that the Flight attendants

wear when they collect waste, so they can quickly col-

lect, sort and store their waste. The apron consists of

different types of  compartments  for different types of

waste. When the flight attendant have done their wa-

ste collection round the Apron can be taken off and be

manually compressed, stored and stacked, which not

only reduces space, but also gives more possibilities

for  recycling different types of materials. The structure

of the apron is ‘half moon’ shaped and when it’s taken

off it can be expanded to a full circle. When it is expan-

ded it can then be manually (with some force) pressed to

the ground, where a locking mechanism then seals and

keeps the waste bag in a small size whereas it provides

little space on board and can be stored in small spaces

on board.

► Coupon food system

Food coupon system is an idea for solving on board

waste management problem. The concept is suitable

for short haul flight which last around 3 hours. The idea

behind the concept is that the passengers are provided

with the food they choose when they bought the ticket

or while they checked in. The boarding pass is used as

a coupon for getting the meal. The provided food are

assumed to be eaten before boarding. Some of the pas-

senger might even take the provided food on-board.

Applying this approach in short haul flight, the problem

about the waste getting into plane is decreased. Not

only it addresses the problem of waste getting into pla-

ne, but also maximizes the recyclability as it is easy to

recycle on land than on board. The other advantage of

this idea is the control of different kind of waste getting

into board. Even though some passenger may take the

distributed food on-board, the airliner has all freedom on

design of packaging and also on the materials for the

packaging. It helps flight attendants to sort the waste ea-

sily. The main problem of the idea is implementation as

managing the different kind of foods for large number of

travelers is challenging. It should be possible to imple-

ment by  collaborating with the restaurants which are lo-

cated inside the airport. The successful implementation

of the idea should solve around 80% of waste problems

on board, saves the oil consumption as well as solves

the space problems. 

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

► Collapsable Tray

The newly developed food tray will fulfil the functions

of the current food bowls and food tray. In order to eli-

minate material, the food bowls are attached together

to form a tray. While designing this new tray, two points

need to be kept in mind.

- The attached bowls have to be rigid enough in order

to serve as a tray

- In order to be competitive with the current situation the

manufacturing costs of the food tray should be kept low

Snap fit system.

To keep the manufacturing costs low, the best way of

manufacturing for this amount of products would be

injection molding. An attaching mechanism that suits to

mode of production and the reduction of costs would

be a snap fit system.

Detachable vs. non-detachable.

When thinking of a snap fit system, one can distingui-

sh snap fit systems that are detachable and non- deta-

chable. Integrating a non-detachable snap fit system

would result in disposable food trays and therefore you

would probably choose a lower wall-thickness, which

will result in a less rigid food tray. And above all, more

waste of material. Therefore a detachable snap fit system

is preferred. But this will demand more clever thinking in

the design of the snap fit system.

Locking 3 degrees of freedom

The snap fit system needs to lock the attached food

bowls in three different directions.

And to keep the molding costs low, the product should

be designed in a way that only one parting line is nee-

ded. This way only 2 molds are needed, moving in oppo-

site direction. This makes the usage of a snap fit design

with sticking out parts tricky.

The design for the bowls in the picture below locks 2

degrees of freedom. The only degree of freedom which

is left is the one marked with the arrows.

The marked direction of the arrows, would also be the

direction in which the bowls will need to be assembled

and detached, which will probably not be a very quick

action. Besides, the design above might give some diffi-

culties with cleaning, since the bowls will contain food.

By adding very small lids the design can be locked in the

last degree of freedom. The result will still be detachable

in this direction, if the lids are designed round enough

and not to sharp.

Locking the bowls in the 3 directions seems to be quite

challenging with a snap fit system. An easier way to lock

already 2 degrees of freedom, would be the use of a can-

vas (basically a food tray with holes for the food bowls)

and then design the food tray and bowls with a snap fit

system that locks the third direction. But this way you will

lose quite a lot of the benefit of the reduction of material.

Of course, still the total product will be stackable and will

therefore make the process of collecting dinner material

easier for the flight attendants. And the stackable mate-

rial will take less volume in the trolley.

The design below does not facilitate a whole food tray to

lock 2 degrees of freedom, it only uses a small element

which is green in the picture below. This element can

be stretched out and pushed together. By pushing it to-

gether, the element sort of hugs all food bowls and they

are hold together by small lids on the side of the bowls.

This locks all 3 degrees of freedom at once.

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

FINAL CONCEPT

► Foldable Trolley

Basically the idea of compressible sorting trolley is to

have a half size trolley that can be converted into full

size and collect waste by sorting in different categories

(bio, cans and bottles and paper and plastic) and again

convert back to the almost half size trolley, by compres-

sing the waste inside it using a mechanical mechanism .

The development phase started with the research on

trolleys and visualization of concept through drawing.

After a number of iteration of design changes and with

a list of difficulties to be tackled during prototype deve-

lopment we finalized the rough drawing and started also

working on a CAD model. During the developmental

phase we decide to prototype two trolleys based on the

different mechanical mechanism its using for compres-

sing waste.

Features of the trolley

- Half size trolley that can be convert to full size trolley

- Have 3 compartments for sorting waste in categories

- Have mechanical mechanism to compress the waste

and convert it into almost half size trolley

Good points

- Reduce space In airplane

- Reduce volume of waste

- Improve sorting

- Increase recyclability

Bad points

-  Flight attendants have to use the manual power to

compress the waste

- It may not be possible to completely make it back to

half size trolley

► GoTrolley!

Our concept aims to encourage the flight crew to be

more aware of how waste is manage and its afterlife.

By allowing for the trolley to have compartments to sort

different materials the user is made aware, in a way, of

the afterlife of the waste. We are proposing the trolley is

made out of a composite material in order to allow for

the trolley to be light weight, yet strong. Also, a compo-

site that can withstanding high temperature (fires), resi-

stance to most chemicals and everyday wear and tear.

After figuring out the sorting of waste, we need to focus

on reducing the volume of waste. The vac-bag system

allows for the volume of the waste to reduce and ea-

sier handle of the waste for cleaning crew. The vac-bag

system allows for the waste to be compacted, once

sorted, by using negative pressure to suck the air and

compress the items inside the vac-bag. The next step is

figuring out using pressure within the aircraft or using the

lavatory waste vacuum generator in order to accomplish

this task. Currently, the vac-bag system is using vacuum

pump in order to suction the waste bag and depress the

items inside the bag.

PROTOTYPES

PROTOTYPES

► Initial product idea

The idea of this concept is a redesign of the materials

in which the food is packed and served. A large amount

of the cabin waste finds its origin in catering material. In

order for the material to be recycled, it is important that

the material goes back to the catering company after

usage and therefore it has to be packed into the catering

trolleys. In most catering companies materials are only

recycled if they are returned in the trolleys as separated

by type of material. Which means the flight attendants

have to sort the waste onboard of the airplane. If a tra-

shbag of mixed waste is returned to the catering com-

pany, in most cases, it will be simply incinerated.

With a clever design of the food serving material, many

benefits can be obtained:

Limiting the amount of different types of material will

simplify the sorting process for the flight attendants and

therefor improve the recycling rate

Limiting the amount of used material will reduce the

total amount of waste as well as the amount of space

taken by the waste inside the airplane

Making the waste stackable reduces the amount of spa-

ce taken by the waste as well

The situation nowadays is that most airlines’ meals are

served on a flat platter/tray. On this tray several loose

foodcups are positioned and very often these cups or

the containings are made out of different materials. Lo-

ose foodcups are useful for the catering company, since

most foodcups are prepared at different departments,

but inside the airplane they are not useful at all. When

the passengers have finished their meals, the cabin crew

collects the material and packs it back into the trolley,

whether in a trashbag or not. If the remaining material

is not packed into a trashbag, the cabin crew very often

needs to find there own creative way for stacking the

materials back into the trolley.

A design corresponding to the benefits mentioned abo-

ve exists of attachable foodcups. With attachable foo-

dcups the following can be achieved:

Catering companies can still prepare the cups at diffe-

rent departments

The platter/tray is removed from the design and therefo-

re the amount of material is reduced

Cups are made out of the same material and therefore

the amount of different types of material is reduced

When assembled together, the cups are easily stackable.

This will make it way more easy for the flight attendant to

pack the materials back into the trolley. This means the-

se materials will not end up in mixed waste and can the-

refore be recycled. The amount of volume the stacked

trays take, will also be significantly reduced

COLLAPSABLE TRAY

PROTOTYPES

► ???

Trolley cart made out of composites. Composites allows

for the trolley to be durable, fire resistant and light. The

redesigned model weights about 10 pounds while cur-

rent trolleys weight from 20 to 30 pounds. The Trolley

is cut from a single 96x48 inch panel. The trolley is 24

inches long, 12 inches wide and 40 inches tall; 43 inches

tall including the wheels. The trolley folds on six specific

joints to make a rectangular shape and function as a trol-

ley.  Essentially, it has “three walls” and two bottom flaps.

It is closed off by an attachable door, which covers the

top and “door” of the structure.

The trolley is reinforced with three internal aluminum 0.5

inch frames. A 1 inch frame reinforces the top edge of

the trolley and provides a finishing touch to the structu-

re. The bottom of the trolley is reinforced with an alumi-

num 12x24 inch panel, resting at the bottom. The inter-

nal base (bottom of the trolley aluminum panel) provides

additional support and material for the wheels to be se-

curely attached. The three 0.5 inch internal aluminum

rectangular frames add additional support and stability.

The aluminum frames also hold the internal shelves.

Shelves are 24x12 inches. They have circular indenta-

tions in order to hold cups, cans, and bottles in place.

The shelves “pull-out” to 24 inches and fold in half. By al-

lowing the shelves to pull out halfway and fold, the items

on the back side of the trolley may be easily reached.

The shelves are removable. This allows the shelves to

fold in half and provide space to hang the waste sorting

bags inside the trolley. The shelves hold the plastic trash

bags in place. Internal rails hold the shelves vertically in

place and ensure correct division of space. This can al-

low for “holds” on counter top and trolley bags to align

with each other. The trolley door folds and rolls in spe-

cific areas in order to serve as a multi-purpose surface.

The trolley door attaches to the trolley by using snap

buttons. This allows for the trolley door to be partially

removed or fully removed.

The trolley is 24 inches long. This space allows for three

plastic waste bags, each bag expanding eight inches, for

“sorting” purposes. Each bag (should) hold a limit of 33

pounds, or a total of 100 pounds per-trolley. The waste

bags may reopened at any time as they are closed with

a Ziplock locking closure. Once the bag has reached ca-

pacity, it can be Vacuum suctioned to reduce its size.

Vacuum Bag System:

The vacuum system uses negative air pressure in order

to suck air out of the plastic waste bags. When air is

sucked out, the items inside the bag compress, allowing

for the volume of the bags and items inside the bags

to reduce in size. Further exploration is needed. Perhaps

altitude pressure can be used instead of a vacuum.

GO-TROLLEY!

PROTOTYPES

AALTO TROLLEY

► Prototype with chain mechanism

The idea of the chain mechanism is that the inner part of

the trolley can be compressed inside the trolley using a

chain. The strength required for this could then be con-

trolled by varying the Size of the gear used in conjun-

ction with the chain. The chain mechanism provides a

simple Mechanism which does not require too much

effort from the user. We started by making the plywood

box of (385*270*900)mm which is to be inserted inside

the half size atlas trolley. For the first version of our pro-

totype we used 4,5 mm plywood, which wasn’t nearly

enough. The box we made from this wasn’t nearly rigid

enough. For our 2nd prototype we used 9 mm plywood,

which, while very rigid, is also a little heavy. Two sets of

drawer rails are used to attach the box to the trolley. The-

se rails guarantee smooth movement for the box when

expanding or compressing the trolley. A chain mecha-

nism is attached to one of the end of the atlas trolley

exactly at the half of the height of the atlas trolley. The

chain mechanism consists of two chains, gear wheels,

a threaded rod of 8mm diameter and 400 mm length,

nuts and washer plates. The rod has two gear wheels at

the each end enclosed inside the trolley.

One end of the chain is attached to the plywood box

and the chain goes round the gear wheel which is atta-

ched to the atlas trolley. The chain can only be used to

turn the full size trolley into half i.e it can be only used

while compressing, so for initially converting the half size

trolley into full size we added a handle to the plywood

box, so by using the handle we can easily turn the trolley

into full size.By now we are sure that the mechanism we

use is able to compress but, as is, the trolley does suf-

fer from blockage issues. Trash inside the trolley can get

stuck between the two trolley halves, causing the trolley

to jam, in such a way that it will not compress all the way.

We hoped that if there is less space, trash does not get

stuck as easily. However this solution proved insufficient.

We are currently working on this jamming problem, but

it needs some thought and planning. If the aforementio-

ned issues can be solved, this trolley is pretty solid. The

construct itself (the inner part and the rails) is of good

quality, even if the mechanism could use more torque

for raw compressing power.

► Prototype with screw mechanism

The basic idea of using a screw mechanism for com-

pressing came from the mechanical car jack system,

where huge loadweight of car can be lifted using sim-

ple mechanical components with manual force . The

number of rotation required for screw for compressing

waste is high but the compression force is also high with

this mechanism. We started by making the plywood box

of (385*270*900)mm which is to be inserted inside the

half size atlas trolley. One set of drawer rails are used to

attach the box to the trolley. These guarantee smooth

movement of the box while expanding or compressing

the trolley. Two threaded rods, both 38cm long, are

used on both sides of the trolley, and 30mm long nuts

are mounted on the walls of the atlas trolley to hold

the threaded rod when it rotates. The outer end of the

threaded rod has a gear wheel attached to it. To ensure

that threaded rods on both sides rotate in unison, these

are linked to yet another threaded rod via a power tran-

smission, which consists of gears and chains. A threaded

rod of 16 mm diameter and 150mm length with a bigger

gear wheel in one end and the other end attached with

bearing(for the threaded rod to rotate freely) is fixed to

the plywood box at the center between two threaded

rods on the side. A chain is added to combine all the

three gear wheels. A metal plate with the hole in each

side is attached to the plywood box ,through which the

side threaded rod pass. A set of nuts and washers are

used to help the threaded rod to exert force on the plate

i.e. the plywood box moves in or out when the threaded

rod rotates.

Initially the trolley is half size, but when anticlockwise

torque is applied to the center threaded rod, the half size

trolley is converted into full size trolley and vice versa. By

now we are sure that the mechanism we use are able to

compress but, the trolley suffers from blockage issues.

Trash inside the trolley can get stuck between the two

trolley halves