♻ RecycleScan 3D lab

A portable camera + Jetson recycling counter

DEMO · Ready to scan
Drag to orbit · Wheel / pinch to zoom · Tap hardware
Accepted detections
Batch truth · demo only80
Estimated battery
Explore the portable rig

Drag the scene to look around. Tap the camera, Jetson or battery to inspect it. This is a conceptual 3D simulation; no trained model or real inference is included.

Batch count

Counts are generated from synthetic objects and a visibility heuristic, not machine learning. Scan duration is a presentation animation, not a benchmark.

MaterialDetectedDemo truth

Scan the pile to see results.

A hidden bottle has no visible pixels to segment. For an auditable submission count, spread containers into a single layer, review uncertain items, and verify the count. Material recognition alone does not establish deposit eligibility.

Build one simple portable station

Place an overhead camera on a stable mast above a marked tray. Mount the Jetson, protected battery pack and regulator on the base. Use diffuse light to reduce glare from cans and clear plastic.

1 · Camera & trayStart with a roughly 1.2 × 0.9 m tray. Adjustable camera height: 0.8–1.8 m above the tray. Match lens field of view to the whole tray.
2 · Compute & coolingUse a complete developer kit or a compatible module + carrier. Keep fan vents clear and shield electronics from liquids.
3 · Portable powerUse a protected, enclosed battery with its matched charger, fuse and a regulated DC supply selected for the exact carrier board.

Conceptual connections · select exact parts before wiring

Camera module
Compatible CSI cable → camera port
Or USB UVC camera → USB port
Battery with BMS
Fuse near pack → switch → DC regulator → carrier DC input
Jetson developer kit
Local network → phone results page
SSD / microSD stores model and count records

Do not wire a raw pack directly to GPIO or assume Orin Nano and Xavier NX carriers share power or camera pinouts. Confirm input voltage, polarity, connector, continuous / peak current and cable rating from your exact board documentation. Shut down the OS before disconnecting power. Fit CSI cables with power removed.

Camera coverage calculation

Footprint = 2 × height × tan(horizontal field of view / 2). Assumes a downward camera and flat tray. Pile height reduces clearance; lens distortion and usable margins reduce coverage.

Hardware documentation

NVIDIA Orin Nano ports & hardware · Camera connection guide · NVIDIA downloads: find your Xavier NX carrier manual

Orin Nano developer kit CSI ports use 22-pin connectors; a supported 15-pin camera needs the correct 15-to-22-pin cable. Connector fit alone does not establish driver compatibility.

How the real counting system works

CaptureTake a sharp still image after items stop moving. Reject blur, poor lighting and piles outside the tray.
SegmentInstance segmentation draws a separate mask around each visible item. Semantic segmentation alone labels pixels, not individual containers.
Count & reviewCount accepted instances by class. Flag uncertain detections. Save one approved result per batch, plus the image and model version.

A practical training plan

  1. Photograph your own containers, crushed cans, labels, lighting and tray backgrounds across separate batches.
  2. Draw instance masks in Roboflow or another annotation tool. Use classes such as PET bottle, aluminum can, glass bottle, carton and other.
  3. Include confusing objects and partly hidden containers. Label only according to a consistent annotation policy; do not fabricate masks for fully hidden objects.
  4. Split train / validation / test data by collection session or physical batch, keeping near-duplicate frames together.
  5. Train an instance segmentation model. Compare predicted counts with manual per-class counts on held-out batches; record count error, misses and false positives.
  6. Deploy a supported model on Jetson. Match JetPack, CUDA, inference runtime and model support to the board. Measure end-to-end speed, memory and power on that device.

Roboflow or local model

Roboflow Jetson deployment instructions provide a starting point. Alternatively deploy a compatible instance-segmentation model with an appropriate local runtime such as TensorRT after validating its export path and license. Offline availability depends on your chosen model, runtime and licensing.

Avoid double counting

For the first version, use one approved still image per spread-out batch. Re-scan replaces that batch result. Adding counts from multiple views will duplicate objects unless calibrated matching and tracking preserve identity. Moving or pouring the pile can break that matching.

Suggested local interface contract

POST /scan  →  image + batch_id
{
  "batch_id": "batch-001",
  "model_version": "your-model-v1",
  "instances": [
    {"class":"PET bottle", "score":0.91,
     "polygon":[[12,20],[45,22],[43,80]]}
  ]
}

Example contract only; no server is connected. A production service needs authentication, input limits and server-side secret handling. Do not put cloud API keys in a public HTML file.

Editable bill of materials

Planning allowances in CAD, not supplier quotes. Tax, shipping, labour and model subscriptions excluded. Changing board updates its allowance.

Part / purposeQtyCAD eachTotal

Battery duration uses usable Wh × regulator efficiency ÷ total assumed system watts. This is a sizing estimate; verify peaks and measured runtime.

RecycleScan 3D Recycling Counter

Explore a portable camera and Jetson recycling counter concept with synthetic 3D scans, battery sizing, camera coverage, training guidance, and editable.

What this tool does

Explore a portable camera and Jetson recycling counter concept with synthetic 3D scans, battery sizing, camera coverage, training guidance, and editable.

Who this is for

How to use this tool

  1. Review the controls and instructions on the page
  2. Enter your information or choose the options you need
  3. Review the result in the app workspace
  4. Export, download, or save the result when the tool provides that option

Inputs

Inputs vary by tool and are provided through the visible fields, controls, files, or interactive workspace on this page.

Outputs

Outputs depend on the selected options and may include an analysis, generated content, visualization, calculation, simulation, or downloadable file.

Example use cases

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Frequently asked questions

Is this tool free to use?

Yes. This SolvProb browser tool is available to use without installing a desktop application.

Do I need to download software?

No. Use a modern browser with JavaScript enabled. Tool-specific browser requirements are shown in the app when applicable.

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