An infrared-based sensor to measure the filling level of a waste bin

Abstract

The continuous global growth of urban population increased the waste generation rate in cities. Garbage collection became one of the most important services each city hall offers to protect its inhabitants and the environment from the harmful impact of solid waste. In this paper, we present a prototypical device that measures the filling level of a waste bin using Infrared based sensors. Most of the state-of-the-art market products use ultrasonic sensors, a technology twice as expensive as the one we propose. We created an Internet of Things (IoT) device capable of computing a bins' filling level (< 25%, < 50%, < 75%, > 75%. and estimate the occupied volume inside the container using a set of infrared emitters and receivers. We also report on the results of the experiments with our device in a real world scenario.