Garbage Truck 2030 — Concept & Spec (compiled 2025-11-01)

1) Executive Summary

By 2030, the collection truck evolves into a quiet, zero‑emission, sensor‑rich mobile data node. It pairs high‑energy batteries (or fuel cells/RNG hybrids) with advanced driver assistance, a panoramic camera and radar stack, and Small Language Models (SLMs) at the edge to triage events, draft notes, and guide operators. The truck natively speaks GIS, synchronizing routes, events, and maintenance signals to city platforms while enforcing privacy and data minimization.

2) Vehicle Platform

Chassis & Body

Modular Class 7–8 chassis with low‑entry cab; composite body with corrosion‑resistant liners.
Automated side‑loader or rear‑loader variants with smart arm and hopper shielding.
Independent front suspension tuned for reduced NVH; regenerative braking up to 0.25g.

Thermal & Environmental

Liquid‑cooled power electronics; heat‑tolerant design for extreme heat days.
Sealed electronics bay (IP6K9K) with positive pressure filtration.

Human Factors

Panoramic low‑glare windshield, 270° camera mirror system, ergonomic controls.
Cabin NVH < 72 dBA at 30 km/h residential runs; active seat damping.
Heads‑up cues for hazards, contamination alerts, geofence warnings.

3) Power & Energy

Zero‑Emission Options

Battery‑Electric (BEV): 350–500 kWh pack, 600–800 V bus, depot charging (300–500 kW DC). Range: 80–140 km with full compaction duty.
Fuel Cell‑Electric (FCEV): 70–100 kW stack + 60–120 kWh buffer; hydrogen at 350 bar; suited for long or hilly routes.
RNG‑Hybrid (transitional): CNG/RNG engine + 80–150 kWh e‑axle hybrid for regen and silent zones.

Energy Management

Adaptive route planning with SOC constraints and cool‑soak windows on heat days.
Smart PTO scheduling to align compaction draws with regen opportunities.
Depot microgrid: PV + stationary storage; load‑shaped charging after midnight.

4) Autonomy & Driver Assist

Level 2+ ADAS: lane‑keeping on arterials, automated braking, blind‑spot and cross‑traffic alerts.
Low‑speed automation (yard/transfer station): supervised self‑parking and queue follow.
Tele‑assist for tricky maneuvers, integrated with 360° cameras and radar bird’s‑eye view.

5) Sensing & Perception Suite

Core Sensors

8–12 HDR cameras (front, sides, rear, hopper/arm, overhead bay).
Short‑range radar (SRR) at corners; optional solid‑state LiDAR for dense urban routes.
Acoustic mics for anomaly cues (non‑content features only).
Environmental: TVOC, methane, temperature, humidity; thermal IR for battery fire risk.
IMU, GNSS (multi‑band), wheel speed; optional bin‑tag RFID and on‑board scales.

Perception Features

Contamination detection (plastics in organics, HHW cues) with confidence bands.
Right‑of‑way hazards: bike lane obstruction, near‑miss logging, pedestrian proximity.
Asset condition: pavement/pothole impulse detection, curb damage, overflowing bins.

6) On‑Board Compute & SLMs

Heterogeneous edge compute (GPU/NPUs) in a sealed carrier; dual SSDs (mirrored) for media ring buffer.
SLM agents summarize events, draft 311 notes, and guide drivers (“Suggest re‑route; heat alert in Zone B”).
Message bus (MQTT) + GeoPackage/SQLite outbox; store‑and‑forward with bandwidth shaping.
Privacy‑first transforms: face/license‑plate blurring on device; non‑speech audio features only.

7) Edge Apps & Workflows

Driver UI

Offline‑first map (ArcGIS/QGIS offline areas) with stop list and geofences.
One‑tap event review: accept/reject, severity, quick note (SLM suggested).
Heat/air‑quality advisories; EV range status; depot ETA.

Back Office

Feature layers for events, tracks, contamination hotspots; attachments for clips.
Dashboards for KPIs (on‑time, fuel/energy, safety incidents, route exceptions).
Open311/case management and work‑order system integration.

8) Safety, Compliance & Privacy

ISO 26262‑inspired process for ADAS functions; functional safety monitors.
Tamper‑evident logging, time‑sync, and cryptographic hashing of exported evidence clips.
Role‑based access, short retention for raw buffers; publish aggregates where policy allows.

9) Data Model & APIs

GIS‑native features with small, stable attributes. Media is attached or referenced by URL. Example payloads below.

9A) Event Feature (GeoJSON excerpt)

{
  "type":"Feature",
  "geometry":{"type":"Point","coordinates":[-122.3352,47.608]},
  "properties":{"event_id":"e6b3…","ts_utc":"2030-05-18T16:12:44Z","route_id":"R-12A",
    "event_type":"contam_flag","severity":2,"confidence":0.86,"media_url":"s3://…/clip_161244.mp4"}
}

9B) Add Features (ArcGIS REST)

POST /arcgis/rest/services/truck_events/FeatureServer/0/addFeatures
f=json&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>&features=[{"attributes":{"event_id":"e6b3…","ts_utc":1895031164},
"geometry":{"x":-122.3352,"y":47.608,"spatialReference":{"wkid":4326}}}]

9C) Outbox Table (SQLite)

Column	Type	Notes
id	TEXT	UUID
payload	TEXT	JSON feature
retries	INTEGER	Exponential backoff
next_attempt_utc	TEXT	ISO‑8601
status	TEXT	queued/sent/error

Column

Type

Notes

TEXT

UUID

payload

TEXT

JSON feature

retries

INTEGER

Exponential backoff

next_attempt_utc

TEXT

ISO‑8601

status

TEXT

queued/sent/error

10) Operations & Maintenance

Predictive maintenance on compactor hydraulics and arm joints via vibration and pressure sensors.
Daily pre‑trip camera self‑check (occlusion, focus, thermal); automatic ticket if failed.
Over‑the‑air updates (staged), with rollback and signed packages.

11) Depot, Charging & V2X

Combined AC and DC fast charging; load‑balanced across bays via depot EMS.
Bidirectional V2B for outage support (critical loads) when policy allows.
Secure V2X for work‑zone beacons and transit priority signaling.

12) Procurement Checklist

Category	Key Questions
Powertrain	Pack size & chemistry, fast‑charge rate, duty‑cycle energy model, thermal strategy
Sensors	Camera count/FoV, radar/LiDAR options, environmental sensors, calibration tools
AI/SLMs	On‑device models, redaction pipeline, explainability, retraining process
GIS & APIs	ArcGIS/QGIS integration, attachments, offline areas, outbox robustness
Safety	Functional safety evidence, driver assist validation, incident logging
Security	Identity & access control, signed updates, audit logs, data retention
Depot	Charger mix, EMS integration, V2B/V2G readiness, microgrid options

13) 2030 Spec Sheet (example)

Chassis	Class 8 low‑entry, 6x4, 18–20 t GVW
Body	Side‑loader 28–32 yd³, composite liners
Energy	BEV 450 kWh, 800 V bus; DCFC up to 350 kW
Range	120 km typical urban duty (full compaction)
Sensors	10 HDR cams, 4 SRR radars, thermal IR, TVOC, CH₄, IMU/GNSS
Compute	Rugged GPU/TPU carrier, dual 2 TB SSD (mirror), LTE/5G
Noise	< 72 dBA city run, < 60 dBA idle
ADAS	Lane keep assist, AEB, blind‑spot, cross‑traffic, yard autopark
Privacy	On‑device redaction, short raw retention, RBAC
GIS	ArcGIS/QGIS native sync, offline areas, attachments

14) Roadmap to 2030

2025–2026: Pilot BEV routes, camera‑based contamination, pothole/asset detection, ArcGIS/QGIS sync.
2027–2028: Scale ADAS, add thermal/TVOC for HHW risk, deploy SLM triage and driver guidance.
2029–2030: Yard automation, V2B readiness, microgrid optimization, fleet‑wide predictive maintenance.