This Garbage Can Will Take Itself Out to the Curb

If you live in fear that smart technology will soon allow us to make only minimal physical movements, our every whim executed by voice commands, the SmartCan will probably not offer much comfort. In simple terms, it’s a garbage can accessory that drives itself out to the curb on trash collection day.

The brainchild of an inventor named Andrew Murray, the SmartCan is a two-wheeled trash receptacle attachment designed to be compatible with any municipal trashcan that will accept your compiled filth from the week. When it’s time for the city to collect, the SmartCan obeys a timer and drags the can along a path to situate itself on the curb. Once it senses the vertical movement of being dumped, it will then drive itself back to its starting position. At the points of departure and arrival are docking stations, which gives SmartCan its destination points.

The device is still in its developmental stage, which means there’s still time to figure out some of the concept’s remaining wrinkles. It’s not clear what SmartCan will do if a new obstacle, like a mail carrier, presents itself. Will it stop, or proceed to barrel over everything in its path to fulfill its mission to arrive at the curb on time? If a garage door is accidentally shut, will it bang into the barrier, or will it smash a window and scream for assistance? If homes put out more than one can per week, how will SmartCan know to fall in line on the trip back?

The SmartCan does not currently have a release date or price, though Murray hopes to see it on the market by the end of 2020.