Hardware Podcasts

When robots recycle with Matanya Horowitz of AMP Robotics

How I Built This · 6 Jul 2023 · 32m

AI in practice: 2 real uses of AI described

What this episode covers

Matanya Horowitz, founder and CEO of AMP Robotics, explains how his company uses AI and robotics to automate waste sorting, a sector where only about 35% of US waste is currently recycled. Horowitz details the transition from using mechanical claws to vacuum-based systems to handle sticky contaminants like dried milk, and discusses the economic challenges of making recycling profitable by lowering sorting costs below the value of the recovered commodities. He also describes AMP's strategy of selling robots to existing facilities while building its own green-field recycling plants to demonstrate the technology's potential and drive industry reshoring.

AI in practice

Where this conversation describes AI being used to build or deliver a product. Part of the AI in practice tracker.

Engineering & simulationcomputer vision technology

The AI vision system was used to analyze items on a conveyor belt, allowing the robots to target specific areas for picking even when items were overlapping, which helped prevent the vacuum grippers from picking up multiple unwanted items.

“We rely a lot on our vision system to look at the items even if they're overlapping and only target kind of promising areas to pick things up. And it's gotten pretty sophisticated.”

Speaker 2 · Hear it at 16:49

Manufacturingcost per ton of sorting starting to drop significantly

AMP Robotics built new 'green field' recycling facilities from the ground up that are fully automated and run 24/7, using AI to sort materials without human intervention, which significantly lowers the cost per ton of sorting.

“We've now gone on to start building recycling facilities around our technology, new green field sites, built from the ground up around AI. What you find is you can go a step further. … facilities that will run 24-7 … fully automated.”

Speaker 2 · Hear it at 24:53

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
AMP Robotics, Oscar Blues, Waste Management, Republic Services
Also
Caltech, National Science Foundation

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