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"[Science fiction] is the only kind of writing that allows you to look at the world we live in and change one piece at a time."
- Frederik Pohl

Robot Trash Collectors  
  Robots that drive and operate garbage trucks.  

Carl had always known there were garbage trucks, but of course he had never seen one. It was a bulky, shining cylinder over twenty metres long. A robot driver was built into the cab. Thirty other robots stood on foot-steps along the sides.

The supervisor led the way to the rear of the truck and pointed to the gaping mouth of the receiving bin.

"Robots pick up the garbage and junk and load it in there," he said. "Then they press one of these here thirteen buttons keying whatever they have dumped into one of the thirteen bins inside the truck. They're just plain lifting robots and not too brainy..."

Technovelgy from The Velvet Glove, by Harry Harrison.
Published by Fantastic Universe in 1956
Additional resources -

Compare to the high tech trash can from Islands in the Net (1988) by Bruce Sterling and to the garbage device from The Age of The Pussyfoot (1966), by Frederik Pohl.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Velvet Glove
  More Ideas and Technology by Harry Harrison
  Tech news articles related to The Velvet Glove
  Tech news articles related to works by Harry Harrison

Robot Trash Collectors-related news articles:
  - Robot-Based Trash Collection
  - Robot Garbage Trucks Visualized
  - Tesla's Optimus Robot Now Sorts Objects (I've Got A Job In Mind)

Articles related to Robotics
Optimus Robot Will Be A Good Nanny, Says Musk
LORIS Passive-Gripper Climbing Robot
Athena Smart Security Guard Robot With Face Recognition
SpaceHopper Microgravity Robot Lands On Its Feet

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