Measure distance / volume from top of bin to top of contents....

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi guys

I am fairly new to the world of Arduino and have been tasked with a project.

In a nutshell, the project is:

Using a sensor (or sensors) to measure the fill level of a trash bin.
The idea i have is for the sensor to be in a fixed position, and when the bin is beneath the sensor, the measurement is made from the top if the bin to the top of the rubbish inside the bin.

I have been looking at ultrasonic, IR and other sensors for the task, but i am confused as to which kind of sensor could give me a reading from pointA (the top of the bin) to pointB (the top of the contents of the bin)

Any help you guys can offer would be truly appreciated.

Thank You.

2

If your garbage is uniformly reflective, like a wall, then an ultrasonic rangefinder would work. But it's probably not. In that case, one of the time-of-flight distancesensors might perform better.

3

Ultrasound indeed won't reflect too well from a random pile of garbage.

Time of flight does have the problem that you measure only one small point - so you get the level of that point, not of the container. For that you need multiple readings at multiple points.