Refuse vehicle with a hopper fill sensor

A refuse vehicle comprising:

• a chassis;
• a cab coupled to the chassis;
• a refuse compartment supported by the chassis and including a storage volume and a hopper volume, the hopper volume being arranged between the cab and the storage volume;
• a lift assembly configured to selectively move relative to the refuse compartment;
• a hopper sensor coupled to a portion of the refuse compartment and configured to measure a refuse height within the hopper volume;
• a packing assembly including a pack panel and a packing actuator, wherein the packing actuator is configured to selectively move the pack panel between a retracted position and an extended position;
• and
• a controller having a processor and at least one memory, the controller being in communication with the hopper sensor and the packing actuator and being configured to:
• monitor a status flag of the hopper sensor;
• in response to determining that the status flag is active, determine if the refuse height is greater than or equal to a refuse height threshold;
• in response to determining that the refuse height is greater than or equal to the refuse height threshold, instruct the packing actuator to extend away from the retracted position;
• and
• in response to determining that the status flag for the hopper sensor is inactive, instruct the packing actuator to extend away from the retracted position based on a hopper load count.

A method of operating a refuse vehicle, the method comprising:

• monitoring a refuse height within a hopper volume using a hopper sensor;
• determining a status flag for the hopper sensor;
• in response to determining that the status flag for the hopper sensor is active, instructing a packing actuator to perform a packing procedure when the hopper sensor senses that the refuse height is greater than or equal to a refuse height threshold;
• and
• in response to determining that the status flag for the hopper sensor is inactive, instructing the packing actuator to perform the packing procedure when a hopper load count is greater than or equal to a threshold load count.