One of the most significant problems in the modern world is the amount of waste generated due to the growth of the urban population. The fate of this waste can be recycling, incineration, or disposal in landfills. A family of 4 people can produce an average of 3 kg of waste per day. The collection of this amount is carried out by trucks that go through the streets of the city collecting waste from door to door, following predetermined routes. When a truck reaches its maximum collection capacity, it goes to the disposal site and then returns to the same point to continue collection and complete its route.
There are several logistical problems: fines for truck overloading, late collection times, labor rights, among others. This project proposes an Internet of Things-based solution to monitor the truck's location in real-time and generate real-time maps to optimize the routes followed by various parts of the fleet.
Our system consists of an onboard system that measures the truck's load and determines its position, sending the information to the cloud-based solution. Several field tests were conducted, with actual fleet segments operating ordinarily on a working day. The tests showed that the developed system was viable and successfully met the application's requirements. The study area for this work is Recife, a coastal city located in northeastern Brazil.
We gained access to a real fleet of solid waste collection vehicles, where the challenge was to enhance operational performance using Internet of Things concepts. It was necessary to improve the efficiency of the collection route, reducing costs related to fuel, maintenance, fines, and personnel salaries, as well as preventing accidents caused by overloaded vehicles.
Based on our previous experience and available documentation, it was decided to use Microsoft Azure IoT for this project; all devices are managed by Azure IoT Hub. The trucks have a front-installed connected device for communications. Edge measurement is provided on a platform to be integrated with other monitored systems.
