Robots that harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to sort demolition waste have been unveiled in Japan.
The machines have been developed by AMP Robotics in conjunction with waste firm Ryoshin and are targeted at the Japanese construction and demolition market.
Two machines, called AI-Benkei and AI-Musashi, can sort, pick and process demolition waste for recycling. They have been built on the AMP Neuron AI platform, which uses real-time pattern recognition to identify target materials. It continuously learns by processing data from millions of images captured via its vision system, and recognises different colours, textures, shapes and patterns.
The AI-Benkei machine can handle debris weighing up to 40kg and will process 25 tonnes per hour.
AI-Musashi uses a tandem-robot cell to rapidly sort smaller items at a rate of 160 pieces of material per minute, and can handle up to 10 tonnes per hour.
Materials differentiation
The machines can differentiate between an array of different materials including metal, wood, electronics and concrete.
AMP has licensed AMP Neuron to Ryohshin for their use and sale of the robotic systems in Japan. In return, AMP will use the robotic technology developed with Ryohshin for its own next generation AMP Cortex construction and demolition robotic system for sale in North America.
Osamu Kono, chief executive officer of Ryohshin, said: “Ryohshin is grateful to partner with AMP. I am very pleased by their expertise in artificial intelligence and robotics. Our teams worked extremely well together to successfully commercialize this new C&D technology. Our customers will benefit greatly from AI-Musashi and AI-Benkei. This technology marks a significant advancement for recycling in Japan.”
Matanya Horowitz, chief executive officer of AMP said: “Ryohshin’s strong reputation and leadership in the Japanese recycling market makes a perfect match for us as we expand internationally. They are a fantastic technology partner and we see this as the first of many collaborations. The combination of AI-Benkei and AI-Musashi with AMP Neuron is a tremendous leap in technology and productivity for C&D businesses. We are excited about the market response and will launch our own next generation AMP Cortex robotics system for C&D in North America soon.”
