THANKS for responding Mr RB!!
basically its an automatic trash can..........the bin will contain a canister vacuum and be elevated about 4" off the floor, and trash will get swept into the space under the cabinet holding the vac. The "object" will be trash, specifically hair. Once the hair is detected, the canister vacuum will actuate and suck up the hair.
size of the detection electronics is somewhat important as I would like to have them take up as little space as possible.