Better compost, backed by data.
A device in the bin reports temperature, moisture, oxygen, CO₂ and a relative ammonia level. CompostIQ charts every reading, estimates which composting stage the pile is in, and raises an alert with steps to fix it when a reading goes out of range.
An RMIT capstone project, built around a pilot site in Mataram, Indonesia. Your readings leave your account only as anonymised country-level figures.
An estimate of where each pile is.
A machine-learning model reads a bin's core temperature and moisture and places the pile in one of five stages. It needs a day of readings, only ever moves forward, and shows how confident it is. It is an estimate, so the dashboard labels it as one.
- 01
Early mesophilic
Microbes wake up and the pile starts to warm.
28–45 °C · 1–3 days
- 02
Active thermophilic
Heat-loving bacteria take over and the pile heats fast.
45–60 °C · 2–4 days
- 03
Peak decomposition
Starts once the core has held 55 °C for 6 hours. Three days at 55 °C kills pathogens.
55–65 °C · 4–7 days
- 04
Cooling
Activity slows and the pile cools back down.
30–60 °C · 5–10 days
- 05
Maturation
The pile settles near the air temperature and finishes.
28–32 °C · 24–36 days
A bin that never gets hot enough, like a small Takakura basket, goes straight from active thermophilic to cooling. The model was trained on composting cycles generated from these ranges.
What each reading is used for
- TemperatureFeeds the stage estimate. Alert above 70 °C.
- MoistureFeeds the stage estimate. Alert below 30 % or above 70 %.
- OxygenAlert below 1 %.
- CO₂Alert above 12 %.
- AmmoniaA relative level from 0 to 1. Charted, with no alert.
Add a bin, add a device, follow the readings.
-
1
Create a bin
Sign up as a compost owner and create a bin with a name, a location and a country. Only the country is ever shown outside your account.
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2
Pair a device
The dashboard gives you a 6-digit code. Type it on the device's own page, check its hardware ID, then name it and choose its bin. A device that can't pair can be registered with an API key instead.
How pairing works -
3
Follow it in the dashboard
The device takes a reading every 30 seconds. Each bin shows live charts, a 30-day history, its stage estimate and any open alerts, which the overview checks again every minute.
About the device. Today's CompostIQ device is the emulator: a small program that models a live compost pile, serves its own pairing page and uploads its readings. It pairs and reports through the same API, with the same kind of key, that a physical sensor would use.
It tells you what to do, not just what it measured.
When a reading breaks one of the fixed rules, or a device goes quiet for 10 minutes, the bin gets an alert. It closes by itself once the readings are back in range. The bin's Maintenance tab lists three steps for each open alert.
- Temperature > 70 °CTurn the pile to cool itHigh
- Oxygen < 1 %Turn the pile to let air inHigh
- Moisture < 30 %Add water while turning the pileMedium
- Moisture > 70 %Turn it and add dry materialMedium
- CO₂ > 12 %Turn the pile to let air inMedium
- No reading for 10 minCheck the device's power and Wi-FiMedium
An offline alert is worked out each time you look, from when the device was last heard from, and is not stored.
Compost data for researchers, country by country.
A researcher account gets up to five API keys and reads figures for each country, by day or over a whole period, as JSON or CSV: bin and reading counts, and each sensor's average, minimum, maximum and spread. Names, places, device IDs and single readings are never included.
Live figures from the CompostIQ API.
Where the bins are
Country level only, for bins that have sent readings. Nothing finer is published.
Start watching your pile.
Create an owner account, add a bin and a device, and follow its readings as they arrive.