SmartCan

Never Miss Garbage Day Again With This Self-Driving Trash Can

The only thing more annoying than having to deal with the garbage every week is missing a garbage day and having to deal with the stink for another week. Let me tell you, if you miss one trash collection day, you won't miss another for a long, long time. Having last week's cottage cheese and turkey fill your garage with vapors for an extra week is great motivation.

That said, getting the trash to the curb before the trucks pass by shouldn't be some kind of bumbling misadventure.

It's a chore, not glamorous, not heroic, but necessary, the sort of thing you hate doing but love having done. And anything that helps is welcome, which is where the SmartCan comes in.

Just imagine: one day, you can forget about your trash once you've plunked it into your outside bin.

I know what you're thinking: it's not going to take itself to the curb for the garbage men, right? But no, this one will. The SmartCan is a self-driving garbage can that makes that trip for you.

It's a bit like having a Roomba for garbage day.

SmartCan

For most of the week, the SmartCan sits in a dock, where you can load it up with your home's nastiest and stinkiest offerings. Through a phone app, you can program the SmartCan to take the trash out on your collection day, and when the day arrives, it will drive itself down to another dock at the curb.

The SmartCan's creator, Andrew Murray, says he really wants to take one more boring chore off our plates.

SmartCan

"We want to help people eliminate unnecessary chores from their daily lives," he said. "We see an opportunity to take IoT beyond just turning off lights or turning on music, and really help alleviate the burden of the mundane physical tasks everyone faces."

"IoT" stands for the "Internet of Things" which refers to the integrated network created as we fill our homes with smart versions of everyday things, like light bulbs or refrigerators.

Of course, there are a few logistical hurdles to sort out first.

SmartCan

Like, what to do if you leave your bins behind a gate, whether it will work in snowy, icy areas, if the SmartCan can right itself after the garbage collectors leave it on its side in the driveway, and so on.

Heck, we don't even have a price or a release date yet beyond a vague "late 2020." But if nothing else, the SmartCan is definitely a dream worth pursuing, especially for those lacking mobility.