Waste bin identification system – Eco Mobile

Recycling, taking care of the amount of the waste that you produce every day and taking responsibility for the effect that your everyday life has on the environment is something that each and every one of us needs to implement in our habitual way of operating. Also, when talking about recycling, no one wants to pay more than they should.

Driven by environmental and economic concerns and wanting to reduce the amount of solid waste people send to landfills, countries want to increase recycling. In order to do that, they motivate households to divert an increasing portion of their waste to recycling by introducing a pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) system – the system that charges you for the exact amount of waste your household produces.

In Croatia, a company called Eco Mobile partnered with us to develop an RFID-based system for electronic identification and the billing of waste collection. The solution provides billing for waste collection services either by volume, mass, or the number of collections by using RFID technology. It can be easily mounted on many types of utility vehicles. Once in operation, the system is fully automated.

We have helped develop dozens of electronic units which are installed on waste collection vehicles. The units communicate over a CAN bus and include RFID antennas, a Linux-based central computer, various RF and sensor interfaces, etc.

A central part of the Eco Mobile system are the RFID antennas located at the back of the vehicle. We managed to deliver a robust industrial antenna with excellent performance when operating in the vicinity of metal. Besides, the antenna’s operating temperature ranges from -40°C to +85°C and can sustain strong vibrations. Another important component that we developed is a Linux-based central computer which is installed in the cabin of the vehicle. It features a 10-inch LCD touchscreen display, 3G connectivity, Ethernet and USB ports, two CAN interfaces, an NFC card reader, and an automotive power supply.

The Eco Mobile system is now successfully installed on more than two hundred waste collection vehicles.