Data collection in a bit different way - RFID solution for municipal waste collection
An automatic collection of information about the dumping of municipal waste container can be a very useful figure. Both for the customer and the service provider, who are thus guaranteed the payments for all the services which are actually performed.
Ideally also the locality and time of dumping mechanism activation is recorded along with the container identification. It is thus indisputably possible to monitor retroactively the movement of a garbage truck, the number of lifts, the number and type of containers as well as other operational figures.
Bar code or contactless RFID tags can be used for identification of containers. They enable reading without direct visibility for a rather long distance, they are thus suitable for an entirely automatic identification without any attendance of human operation.
It ensures high productivity and especially the credibility of data, which serve as the basis for waste delivery payments, actually performed services for customers as well as the continuous records of a production and waste handling.
Our company provides the automatic identifications of plastic and metal containers by means of the RFID technology. Each type of a container is labelled with an appropriate RFID tag, which is scanned after the lift and immediately sent to a central database or saved in the memory of the operational system till the detection in a depot. This reading system can cooperate with other control systems of the truck, which are recording the route, consumption or any other data or figures.
Description of the solution
Each waste container is equipped with an RFID tag, each of which has a unique number. This number is matched with a particular customer in the central database. The garbage truck is equipped with the scanning RFID system, which is set to scan the RFID tag on a dust bin or a container only when being dumped. Combined with the analogue sensors, which are monitoring the real motion of the dumping mechanism, it is possible to compare the number of dumped containers with the number of really scanned codes /tags and thus immediately identify the damaged/missing RFID tag or unauthorized dump.
The actual RFID reading is made by an industrial scanner with controllable output and speacially adjusted/modified aerials. Data as well as the program/software equipment are placed in a high resistant industrial PC, as all the stuff is fixed on the outer part of the truck carosserie with the operating temperatures identical to outside environment.
The data is automatically transmitted through a WiFi network to the central server after the truck returns to the station. The system is ready for recording GPS coordinates of the dumping as well as the immediate data transmission over the GPRS network. The time of scan and the unique EPC code from the RFID tag memory is transmitted.
The data is transferred into the superordinate system in use (usually an invoice system) or into own database system GBC LINE. This system is used for browsing, statistics and print making. It is also possible to provide simultaneously other applications with the data.
In the ordinary operation the truck operator can be equipped with spare RFID tags, which can be used in case of damaged, faulty or missing tag. After that the manual matching with the respective consumer is carried out.
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