When Victorian-based entrepreneur, Paul Sewell, of FreshBins Pty Ltd was looking to develop his world first robotic bin cleaning technology, there was only one company who shared his vision. Never shy of their own industry pioneering feats, Machinery Automation & Robotics (MAR) were thrilled to take on the challenge.Within two months of manually operating his bin cleaning business, Paul Sewell knew there had to be a better way. After tirelessly researching the “how’s” and “why’s”, Paul’s idea of a faster, better and more economical option rested with the boundless possibilities of robotics. Undeterred by some initial negative response, Paul sought out the team at MAR and an immediate meeting of minds ensured that their joint venture would result in celebrated success.So the brief was set and MAR needed to develop the kind of state-of-the-art technology that would ensure that the FreshBins business could cope with its rapidly expanding market. And develop it they did. As MAR’s Southern Region Manager, Paul Gekas explains, “When dealing with a project of this nature, it gives our team an opportunity to utilise what we like to call our innovation process. Using research and development, we break down the task and address each of the obstacles at hand and come up a solution that is not only feasible but that is also commercially tangible.”The end result was a robotic arm designed with a vacuum gripper and sensors attached to a computer with a touch screen control monitor in the driver’s cabin. When the truck pulls up near a rubbish bin the robot swings out. Now here’s where it gets interesting…the innovative 3D vision system then detects the shape and position of the bin and relays the information to the computer mapping program…all within one-200th of a second! In addition to being cutting edge, the 3D vision system also cleverly addresses and resolves the challenge of creating a safe environment by automatically going into alert mode, if the sensors distinguish any movement near the bin.Once the robotic arm picks up the bin, it is directed into the rear of the truck where it is cleaned with a sterilising agent called ozone before being placed back on the kerb in a record time of just 17 seconds. We ask Paul Sewell his thoughts on the final outcome, “We were especially excited about the 3D vision technology. It doesn’t matter how the bin is positioned, or if it is lying on the ground. The arm can locate a rubbish bin in any possible position, while a second sensor detects any movement around the bin such as animals or children.”To find out more about FreshBins, check out the website www.freshbins.com.au or for more information about the industry leading work by MAR, visit www.machineryautomation.com.au.