So this is what I came up with… A bit of a different direction than the original idea, but a LOT less expensive..
These are ArUco markers that , with a lot of searching, have OpenCV android library builds that support marker detection. Works well I think. Not as good as a glowing bin, but also only cost me $12 for new larger labels.
The first labels I tried were smaller and they worked but found a couple issues. First, I printed the marker as big as I could to get the best reader distance. Turns out without enough white space around the edge when there are black things in the bin, it doesn’t detect consistently. Also I didn’t like the number was kinda of hidden. So I bought larger 2x3in labels and these get good read distance and are also easier for humans to read.
Additionally I bumped the resolution of the image processor (it was initially doing 640x480, which also helps detection distance, albeit a little slower.
