Rubbish collection and separation robot

SRX 2 all-wheel drive chassis can be utilized as a platform for rubbish collecting robot intended for operation in urban forest environments. Such places are difficult to clean as rubbish is scattered around a large area. Ordinary rubbish collecting machines are not suitable for this purpose because they damage grass and other plants. Low-skilled rubbish collectors who traditionally work in urban forests can be successfully replaced by small-sized light-weight robots. A wheeled robot is fitted with a manipulating arm with maximum lifting capacity of 3.5 kg. It is ideally suited to collection of plastic and glass bottles, packets, tins, aluminum cans and other litter.

Detection of litter on the ground surface is made by analyzing video images received from a rotating video camera. The video camera scans the surface in the range of 5-7 metres. In case a surface abnormality has been detected the robot starts moving towards it to let its manipulating arm reach the target. Being directed by its video camera the arm stops above the target. Then the video camera fitted to the arm takes a few pictures to identify the object. If it looks like a probable litter the arm touches it to classify the material – plastic, glass or metal. After that the item is picked up and placed into an appropriate section of the attached trailer.

Litter separation as it is collected makes it possible to get same-source recyclables that are much more valuable than unseparated rubbish. If the robot finds litter that overweights its lifting capacity it marks the place on its digital map or sends a signal to an operator.

Rubbish collecting robots usually operate in groups in the following way. A transport vehicle delivers a few robots to an area that needs cleaning. After an operator sets up cleaning boundaries, the robots automatically divide the specified area into sections and get down to litter collection. The operator removes separated litter from robots’ trailers and deals with emergency cases when some of the robots need to be switched to a manual mode.