Patent ID: 8496427

Claim:
A method for assembling a plurality of modularly-assembleable and disassembleable structures so as to form an operable combination having at least a first robotic arm mechanism that is operable to selectively grasp curbside-situated waste or a curbside-situated waste container and to subsequently selectively ungrasp what has been grasped, the operable combination also having a corresponding at least first front-loadable intermediate container having a rear and a front and defining a total refuse containment volume for containing a corresponding total volume of refuse transferable thereto by the first robotic arm mechanism after the modularly-assembleable combination is assembled and energized, where the operable combination is to be liftingly supported by and energized by a pre-specified and to-be-provided front-loading, waste collecting vehicle, where the vehicle has a frontwardly facing engagement means for disengageably engaging with and mechanically lifting and energizing the assembled and operable combination of the at least first robotic arm mechanism and the at least first front-loadable intermediate container, the method comprising: providing the first robotic arm mechanism in the form of a major-mass portion and a minor-mass portion coupled to the major-mass portion, where the minor-mass portion includes at least a first waste grasper operative to selectively grasp said curbside-situated waste or curbside-situated waste container and to subsequently selectively ungrasp what has been grasped, where the major-mass portion is modularly and operatively positionable rearward of said total refuse containment volume when the operable combination is liftingly supported frontward of said front-loading, waste collecting vehicle, and where the major-mass portion can detachably interface with the waste collecting vehicle to receive actuating energy and control signals from the waste collecting vehicle by way of the detachable interfacing, where the received actuating energy and control signals are for correspondingly providing actuating energy and control signals at least to the first robotic arm mechanism.