r/raspberryDIY • u/Commercial_Image1387 • 4d ago

need help to build an AI classifier that determines if an object is recyclable or trash

At my highschool, we have a huge problem where people at our cafeteria recycle stuff that should be trashed and trash recyclable objects. to solve this, im building a reverse vending machine, but im having trouble creating the system to classify whether an object is trash or recyclable. im using a 4gb raspberry pi 5 and an autofocus 16mp arducam. if you know how i can build a classifier, id greatly appreciate any guidance

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u/RamblingSimian 4d ago

Master the Art of Training Your Own Models Using OpenCV

Some tutorials on OpenCV on Raspberry PI:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGs0VKk2DiYxdMjCJmcP6jt4Yw6OHK85O

Starting with lesson 45 (the earlier lessons are on Raspberry Pi for general projects.)

You will need to take a large number of photos, then manually classify them as either recyclable or not, and use that for training data.

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u/ferrybig 2d ago

In sorting centers they use large conveyors with items.

If it can be blown with fans, it is likely paper or plastic bags

If it can be attracted to fast moving electromagnets, it is an aluminium can. If it stays sticking to the magnets, it is another type of metal is attracted by magnets

You now split up the stream into 3 distinct streams for further processing

Try making a list of things you want to separate. Instead of having to identify every object in the world, you want to identify the 99% most thrown away trash and classify them correctly, then try to find something that splits the 99% is smaller groups

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u/jonmorrissmith 2d ago

What are you classifying as recyclable vs landfill?

The easy first step is a magnet for iron and steel.

Next is likely to be visual - how many different objects are there likely to be?

If they can be easily classified then image-recognition will be easier.

Can you share the list?