The increasing use of electronics in today’s refuse collection vehicles can actually backfire and impose a confusing mix of electronics systems on waste collectors. It’s only timely then that two manufacturers have separately developed a combined system that makes routing, weighing and other tasks easier and more efficient.
by Malcolm Bates
The products used for waste collection work in a tough environment, yet are expected to work without failure for longer than many comparable products in other sectors. They’ve continued to get more complex and more expensive and, in order to get some sort of return on this increased investment, are expected to work for even longer. The refuse collection vehicle (RCV) of today is far more complex than the same basic machine of two generations ago - and that can create problems. But thanks to the work of truck chassis manufacturer Scania and waste equipment specialist Faun, ‘technology’ can come together to produce a waste vehicle that knows where it’s going, what it has to pick up, which is the best gear for it to be in, who to send collection data to and, when required, have its hydraulic settings adjusted by a technician without necessarily having to break off from the collection route.
Although working independently, there are a number of reasons why these two suppliers came up with complementary technology. As demands for environmental controls have continued to bite, truck chassis have got heavier. Chassis-mounted ancillary equipment has expanded to fill the space available, and cab structures and their ‘furnishings’ have likewise grown more complex.
When we take a look at the development of compaction systems, what do we find? Once, only mechanical linkages, hydraulic rams, cylinders and hoses were deemed suitable for a working life covered in the abrasive dust and corrosive moisture that comes from compacting waste. Today’s RCV bristles with electronics. There are multiple closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, reversing ‘bleepers’, touch-screen controls and diagnostic systems. To make matters even worse, many developed economies demand an on-board weighing system with certified accuracy for client billing for ‘pay-by-weight’ collections or trade accounts. That any of it works for longer than a week is something of a miracle. That such systems work reliably, year-on-year, illustrates the largely unseen advances in waste-handling equipment engineering over the last couple of vehicle generations.
Reaching system overload?
Each system in an RCV has a beneficial function and is designed to make the end-user’s job easier. But two ‘side issues’ have become a source of concern. One is that, in an effort to add all these systems and equipment onto a mechanical product working in a very tough environment, we’ve rapidly got to a position of ‘system overload’ - both in terms of what a truck’s electrical system can stand and what a vehicle electrician can reasonably be asked to fit. And just as importantly, the amount of information that a driver or loader is expected to take in while being subjected to traffic movements, pedestrians, shouted instructions and other distractions. It could be an expensive bonfire if anything goes wrong from an installation perspective. But if anything goes wrong on the route and there’s an accident causing personal injury, it could become an increasingly expensive legal issue.
 Swedish recycled materials contractor Alwex is the first to put the ‘Interactor’ computer-equipped Scania to work in the waste sector. More Norba-bodied units are on order |
Part of the problem is that many waste authorities and commercial waste contractors tend to start with ‘standard’ truck chassis and add specialized components. Until recently, a purpose-built RCV chassis/cab was seen as an ‘avoidable expense’ in the race to keep collection contract prices low. Now, that trend looks to have changed back in favour of a more purpose-built approach. In addition to specialist manufacturers such as UK-based Dennis Eagle, there is renewed interest from mainstream truck manufactures such as Mercedes, MAN and Renault. More recently, Turkish manufacturer BMC joined the club and will, like Dennis Eagle, shortly be able to build and deliver a ‘ready to run’ purpose-built refuse collection vehicle with a low-entry cab.
All this makes it a ‘win-win’ situation from perspective of the RCV fleet operator. However, as many as eight key suppliers could be needed to provide all the equipment and systems needed on a modern RCV. That’s several too many.
The Swedish idea
The Scania Interactor system is basically a powerful on-board computer system built into the truck on the chassis line at the factory. Scania is not alone in this idea, but it has been in the forefront of recognizing some of the complexities of specialist body and hopper designs like those used in waste and recycling - for example, where on-board weighing, routing, diagnostics, billing and a whole load of other systems tend to be ‘bolted on’ to a truck’s electric systems after it had been delivered to the bodybuilder. Even with the advances of CAMbus command system wiring, the knock-on effects of something going wrong were becoming increasingly serious. Interactor gets round this issue by not only providing a computing facility with enough power and capacity to run all the systems to be found on a modern truck chassis, but also by providing more than enough spare capacity to cater for the most complex waste industry requirements.
 The production version of the low-entry cab from Scania shares standard truck dash panel, allowing installation of built-in Interactor |
The Scania system makes a waste vehicle driver’s job much easier. At the same time as carrying routing and billing information (thus doing away with the need for pen and paper), it allows all the additional ‘function’ controls for power take-off (PTO) systems, additional work lights and beacons to be handled using a touch screen. The same screen is also designed to show images from CCTV cameras positioned at various points on the truck, as well as containing a communications function.
It’s not the fact that operators can have all these systems on a single truck that makes Interactor such good news. It’s that all this technology is built in as standard on the chassis line - no extra switches, ‘black boxes’ or screens need to be fitted in the cab. It should also mark the end of those endless arguments over warranties, which tend to take place when one aftermarket system causes the failure of another.
The German connection
The waste industry requirements of Interactor were formulated by the Scania team working with technical staff at Swedish waste equipment manufacturer Norba (part of the Oshkosh group) - indeed, the unit I tried was a Scania chassis with a Norba body/hopper working in southern Sweden with contractor Alwex. However, there’s another element to this story. And that has a German connection.
The new Faun routing system has not one, but two software systems that could both work together in conjunction with the Interactor computer system - the Faun Remote Diagnostic System (RDS) and the recently introduced Memo Tour System.
Using RDS, Faun engineers and end-users have for some time been able to monitor the performance and status of hydraulic systems on Faun products via a mobile phone and a PC. The latest version takes this capability one stage further by enabling adjustments and changes to be made if required. For example, if a binlifter is running too slowly because the hydraulics used on the compaction system are taking proportionately more power, the driver can phone in and have the pressures reset without the vehicle or crew having to leave the collection route. A problem of spilled waste can thus be solved in minutes, not hours.
 Having all the technology wrapped up into one built-in system should make the whole process of waste collection a more efficient, easier and safer process |
Although several other manufacturers are able to supply comparable technology - or a combination of systems to achieve the same effect - Faun is unusual in developing such software in-house as part of its overall product strategy.
Memo Tour
Faun has also recognized that, when long-serving staff leave, they often take with them vital ‘route knowledge’ that was often never written down. Memo Tour is the technological solution to this problem. Based on TomTom satellite navigation technology, Memo Tour can be programmed to give the most economical waste collection route, detailing the streets to be visited. The software can also contain specific pieces of information that come up on the screen to inform the driver and crew of hazards such as ‘ferocious dog at number 27, don’t enter if it’s out in yard’ or, just as useful perhaps, ‘bin at number 49 is located behind garage on left’.
There’s nothing revolutionary about the software. It’s already available and, like RDS, Memo Tour can be installed on any Faun product. But if we roll the work of companies like Scania and Faun together, we’ll have a vehicle that can get round the collection route in the most efficient manner.
Malcolm Bates
is Transport Correspondent of Waste Management World.To comment on this article or to see related features from our archive, go to www.waste-management-world.com and click the ‘Forum’ tab.
