PPlanter: Rapidly deployable, reconfigurable public urinal and sink(pplanter.com)
pplanter.com
PPlanter: Rapidly deployable, reconfigurable public urinal and sink
http://pplanter.com
7 comments
Here is the facebook invite: http://www.facebook.com/events/306073629499817/
London has these $75,000 public urinals that disappear during the day http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/19/urilift-the-disappearing-...
Why did that cost 75k? I can only assume it's to be bulletproof against rowdy drunks.
Good hydraulic lift; custom manufacturing; extensive safety testing (what happens if the lift fails?); cost of building a product for a bureaucracy (paperwork, adherence to regulations, extension of development timeline); R&D and payback on loans or other capital outlay; profit.
It likely also includes cost of transport (it is a fairly large stainless steel structure) and installation (digging a hole, moving existing cabling out of the way, etc)
If not, prices have risen very steeply since 2007. http://www.visit-gloucestershire.co.uk/boards/topic/2674-str... states:
"The Urilift and associated installation costs amount to £45,000 (broken down as £27,000 for the product and £18,000 for installation). As the structure is made of stainless steel and is very robust its lifetime should be 15-20 years - equating to a cost of only £2,000-3,000 per annum in addressing this serious problem. Maintenance costs are estimated at only £2,000 per annum."
If £27,000 still seems expensive, you must consider that these things stand outside the whole year round, and, given the target audience, probably do not get the best of treatment by their users.
If not, prices have risen very steeply since 2007. http://www.visit-gloucestershire.co.uk/boards/topic/2674-str... states:
"The Urilift and associated installation costs amount to £45,000 (broken down as £27,000 for the product and £18,000 for installation). As the structure is made of stainless steel and is very robust its lifetime should be 15-20 years - equating to a cost of only £2,000-3,000 per annum in addressing this serious problem. Maintenance costs are estimated at only £2,000 per annum."
If £27,000 still seems expensive, you must consider that these things stand outside the whole year round, and, given the target audience, probably do not get the best of treatment by their users.
Ah, I didn't consider whether or not transportation / installation were included.
2007 was 5 years ago. Fuel and food costs have both risen sharply since then, as have the costs for just about everything other than labor. So, I wouldn't be surprised.
2007 was 5 years ago. Fuel and food costs have both risen sharply since then, as have the costs for just about everything other than labor. So, I wouldn't be surprised.
The currently installed public urinals of San Francisco cost $300,000.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/us/17toilets.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/us/17toilets.html
I wonder if they have anything to keep people clear when those are rising/setting.
AFAIK, these things are operated by remote control by people standing nearby (http://urilift.com/: "Every night at about 22.00 the UriLift is activated by personnel from a bar nearby")
That way, they are about as dangerous as remotely controlled garage doors.
That way, they are about as dangerous as remotely controlled garage doors.
Ahh, that makes much more sense. I suppose passing policemen or something could close them, since bars probably aren't open early in the morning.
This project is for the UP festival, and here are some more sketches/designs of the project: http://sf.urbanprototyping.org/projects/ppplanter/
There are some major efforts around this. eg. bill gates Foundation http://www.gatesfoundation.org/watersanitationhygiene/Pages/..., or the toilet masterplan in SF http://toiletproject.org
There are some major efforts around this. eg. bill gates Foundation http://www.gatesfoundation.org/watersanitationhygiene/Pages/..., or the toilet masterplan in SF http://toiletproject.org
How will folks resist the urge to pee on the QR code?
Just curious, how would you go about detecting urine with sensors?
The planter primarily senses smell, entry/exit and water level. There is also a mechanical system (construction is going on) that mixes an "appropriate" amount of water with pee, so that it is usable by the plant.
So in all we can sense:
- number of people that went into the planter (approx)
- amount of pee was collected
- smell levels based on usage/pee levels
there are also some more things related to plant growth.
So in all we can sense:
- number of people that went into the planter (approx)
- amount of pee was collected
- smell levels based on usage/pee levels
there are also some more things related to plant growth.
Probably an "electronic nose" that detects a particular chemical or mixture of chemicals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_nose
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_nose
This seems really great until you realize peeing on a tree is about exactly the same thing.
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http://sf.urbanprototyping.org/projects These are the projects chosen from our Open Call several months ago — they're longer term with bigger budgets.
http://sf.urbanprototyping.org/makeathon/projects These were chosen from our Makeathon a few weeks ago.
It's going to be awesome. If you're in SF this weekend, come down to 5th and Mission and check it out.