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Bin detection on a refuse collection vehicle

TypeCase study
Published18 Oct 2026
AuthorAndrew WhitehouseCEO
Reading time9 min

A refuse collection vehicle stops at every property on its round, and its lifting arm or bin lift has to meet each wheeled bin at the right height and distance while the crew works close by.

Cameras with a light AI model can take some of that judgment off the operator, by finding the bin in the image and estimating where it sits relative to the arm. Here the model runs on the Neousys POC-751VTC, a fanless rugged PC for vehicles that powers four cameras directly and runs inference on its integrated graphics with OpenVINO.

The job · 5 points

What a refuse collection vehicle asks of the computer

01Find the bin
Detect wheeled bins at the kerb in the side and rear camera views, stop after stop, in daylight and under street lights.
02Judge the distance
Estimate where the bin sits relative to the arm, so the lift meets it squarely instead of by trial and error.
03Talk to the vehicle
Read and send signals on the vehicle’s CAN bus and digital I/O, such as arm position, reverse gear and warning lights.
04Live on vehicle power
Start and stop with the ignition and ride out the cranking dips and spikes of a heavy truck supply.
05Survive the round
Cope with constant vibration, cold early starts and summer heat behind a cab panel, with no fan to clog.
How it fits together · 5Build

Cameras, model and vehicle link

One compact computer in the cab handles the cameras, the AI model and the vehicle interfaces.

Four PoE+ cameras from one computer

Four Intel I350 GbE ports supply 802.3at PoE+, so the side and rear cameras take power and data over one cable each, with no separate switch or camera power supply to fit.

Light AI on the integrated GPU

The eight-core Intel Core i3-N305 has 32-EU Intel UHD Graphics, which supports OpenVINO for light AI on board. A compact detection model suits it well, with no discrete GPU to power or cool.

Vehicle interfaces and ignition control

Two isolated CAN 2.0 ports with SocketCAN support in Linux connect to the vehicle bus, and 8-channel isolated DI and DO handle arm sensors, alarms and indicators. Built-in ignition control starts and shuts the computer down with the truck.

Built for a heavy vehicle

The POC-751VTC is E-Mark certified, which our E-Mark guide explains, and is tested to IEC 61373 Category I Class B for vibration and shock. It runs fanless from −40 to 70 °C.

Configured before it reaches the depot

We install the operating system and OpenVINO runtime, fit the SSD and a 4G or 5G module in a mini PCIe socket, set the BIOS for ignition power-on and prepare the cabling to match the vehicle, so the computer goes into the cab ready to load the detection model.

Hardware

Detection or recording first

The POC-751VTC is the vehicle-control choice, with CAN, more isolated I/O and E-Mark. Where keeping camera footage matters as much as detection, the POC-764VR adds hardware RAID across two 2.5″ SSDs, so a failed drive does not take the recording with it. It has a narrower fanless temperature range and no onboard CAN, so it suits a cab installation with a CAN module fitted if needed.

Specification Neousys POC-751VTC Neousys POC-764VR
Processor Intel Core i3-N305, 8 cores, OpenVINO support Intel Core i3-N305, 8 cores, OpenVINO support
Camera ports 4× GbE PoE+ 4× GbE PoE+ (locking RJ45), plus 1× 2.5GbE
Storage 1× M.2 2280 SATA 2× 2.5″ SSD with RAID 0/1, plus 1× M.2 2280 NVMe or SATA
Vehicle I/O 2× isolated CAN 2.0, 8-channel isolated DI and DO 4-channel isolated DI and DO; CAN via mini PCIe
Wireless 2× mini PCIe for Wi-Fi, 4G or 5G 2× mini PCIe for Wi-Fi, LTE or 5G
Power 8–35 V DC, ignition control 8–35 V DC, ignition control
Operating temperature −40 to 70 °C, fanless −10 to 55 °C fanless; to 70 °C with the optional fan kit
Approvals E-Mark, EN 50121, IEC 61373 MIL-STD-810H vibration and shock

Both are part of our in-vehicle computers range, alongside larger GPU systems for heavier models.

Benefits · 4 points

What this setup gives the crew

01A steadier lift
The operator gets a second view of where the bin is, so the arm meets it squarely more often.
02Fewer boxes in the cab
Cameras, AI, vehicle I/O and the cellular link share one fanless computer, with no separate PoE switch.
03Power that follows the truck
Ignition control boots the system at the start of the round and shuts it down in order at the end.
04Room to add more
The same computer can take on driver assistance or footage upload as the vehicle’s software grows.
06FAQs

Refuse collection vehicle FAQs

  1. What Is a Bin Lift?

    A bin lift is the hydraulic mechanism at the back of a refuse collection vehicle that lifts a wheeled bin, tips it into the hopper and lowers it back to the ground. The crew positions each bin and works the controls, and cameras and sensors can help the lift meet the bin at the right height and distance.

  2. What Is SocketCAN?

    SocketCAN is the CAN bus support built into the Linux kernel. It treats each CAN interface as a network device, so software can send and receive CAN messages through standard sockets, and common tools such as candump and cansend work with any supported CAN adapter or onboard CAN port.

  3. What Is OpenVINO?

    OpenVINO is Intel’s open-source toolkit for optimizing and running AI inference. It takes models trained in frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow or ONNX, optimizes them, and runs them efficiently on Intel hardware, including CPUs, integrated GPUs such as Iris Xe and Arc, discrete Arc GPUs and the NPUs in Core Ultra processors.

  4. PoE vs PoE+ vs PoE++: The 802.3af, 802.3at and 802.3bt Standards

    PoE, PoE+ and PoE++ are the three generations of IEEE Power over Ethernet. PoE (802.3af) supplies about 15 W per port, PoE+ (802.3at) about 30 W, and PoE++ (802.3bt) 60 W (Type 3) or 90 W (Type 4). PoE and PoE+ use two of the four cable pairs; PoE++ can use all four.

  5. iGPU vs dGPU: What Is the Difference?

    An iGPU (integrated GPU) is built into the processor and shares the system memory, so it adds little power, heat or cost. A dGPU (discrete GPU) is a separate graphics processor with its own memory, offering far more performance but needing more power, cooling and space. For edge AI, iGPUs suit lighter inference and dGPUs suit heavy workloads.

  6. What Is CAN Bus?

    CAN bus (Controller Area Network) is a two-wire network that lets controllers, sensors and actuators share short messages without a central computer. Developed by Bosch for vehicles, it uses a noise-resistant differential signal and gives every message a priority, so critical data gets through first. It is now standard in vehicles, machinery and remote equipment.

  7. What Is an NVR?

    An NVR (network video recorder) is a recorder that receives video streams from IP cameras over a network, stores them, and lets users watch live and recorded footage locally or remotely. PoE NVRs also power the cameras. An AI NVR adds a GPU or AI accelerator so it can analyze the video, detecting people, objects and events as it records.

// Next Step

Adding cameras and AI to a fleet vehicle?

Tell us the cameras, the vehicle signals and the software you plan to run. We configure the computer, storage and modem to suit the vehicle.

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