SITAhas been using a system supplied by ZenRobotics of Helsinki to sort waste materials on a trial basis for the past eight months. Now, the system is being hailed as a future way of transforming sorting lines for recyclables and waste materials, bringing health and safety advantages as well as helping to improve the purity of the sorted product.
ZenRobotics was founded in 2007 and has 18 employees, half of whom have doctorates. In its research work it is involved with Aalto University, Finlands largest technical university. The company has a range of funding support, including from the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology, and has worked in other sectors such as hazardous waste incineration and mining.
Zenroboticsdescribes its system as an an autonomous robotic waste sorting system which uses robots to pick target objects from a waste stream. These can be valuable raw materials, contaminants or any chosen objects.
The target objects to be picked are identified by multiple sensors incuding cameras, full-spectrum cameras, weighing, near-infra red, 3D scanners and other sensors. Then the robots grab and lift the target objects from the stream.
Artificial Intelligence
ZenRobotics explained that its Recycler robot is enabled by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and is capable of multiple simultaneous sorting tasks, both positive and negative sorting. Example target objects include plastics (PVC, PE, PET, PP, PS, PA, PC, ABS, PTFE), pipes, cables, toys etc, batteries, CRTs, compact fluorescent light bulbs, computers and construction materials.
Using the robotic system, said ZenRobotics, brings a number of advantages to waste and recycling companies. These includes the removal of contaminants and 24/7 operation with robustness and low-running costs.
The company added that the system also reduces occupational health concerns and is best available technology. David Hennessey, director of the UKs Cape Machinery based in Stoke-on-Trent, is working with ZenRobotics in the UK.
Cutting-edge
Mr Hennesseytold letsrecycle.com that it is early days in the development of the robots but that they are cutting-edge. He said: The robots have advantages over existing sorting systems. In terms of sorting, they can provide a higher purity of product than by using near-infra red and other sorting methods. Signals come from the sensors as to what each type of waste is and that can be accurately collected.
Heexplained that ZenRobotics are able to produce a bespoke sorting line with as much or as little flexibility needed. He added that the claim for equipment is that it will be more accurate than human pickers. It also has the advantage of maintaining consistent standards of sorting. It is inevitable that human pickers after an hour can become bored and concentration levels can fall while the robotic arms will keep going.
Mr Hennessey added that costs of the line will be competitive, including when labour costs are removed. A full sorting plant, for example with a picking line plus one robot might cost in the order of 630,000 Euros. (Editor’s note: updated August 1 2011).
The MRF-like system from ZenRobotics comes in a modular structure and the companysaid this is easy to expand to a multi-robot picker system.
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