A Yolo-based robotic system for waste detection and Collection

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorIsaac Nabasa
dc.contributor.authorApophia Atwijukire
dc.contributor.authorLeticia Lackia
dc.date.accessioned2026-08-20T18:39:19Z
dc.date.available2026-08-20T18:39:19Z
dc.date.issued2026-06-02
dc.descriptionUndergraduate
dc.description.abstractWaste management remains a critical challenge in Kampala where approximately 63% of daily generated waste goes uncollected, leading to environmental pollution, blocked drainage systems, flooding and public health risks. Traditional manual collection methods are inefficient, labor intensive and inadequate to handle the growing volume of lightweight litter such as paper,npolythene bags, and plastic bottles, especially in busy public spaces. This project developed ECO-BOT, a low-cost autonomous robotic system that integrates computer vision and robotics to address these challenges. Following the engineering design method ology, the robot was built using the Hiwonder mobile platform, Raspberry Pi 5, a lightweight YOLOv8n object detection model, and a 5-DOF robotic arm. The system was designed to detect, navigate towards, pick up and store lightweight waste items. Individual components were developed and tested separately before full system integration. The complete prototype was evaluated in outdoor environments on surfaces including tarmac, short grass and light gravel and also inside Uganda Christian University Dining hall which has cemented ground and some tables. Results demonstrated promising performance with 87% detection accuracy, 78% collection success rate, and 84% navigation success across tests, achieving an average collection time of 13.5 seconds per object. While limitations such as occasional processing delays and challenges with certain waste types were observed, ECOBOT successfully shows that affordable YOLO-based robotics can provide a practical, scalable solution for improving waste collection in resource limited urban settings like Kampala. This work contributes to smarter, technology driven waste management practices in Uganda.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12311/3558
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherUganda Christian University
dc.titleA Yolo-based robotic system for waste detection and Collection
dc.typeProject Report

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
Yolobased robotic system_BSCS_2026.pdf
Size:
16.17 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science