Grundon, a U.K. waste disposal and waste management company, is currently trialling a ZenRobotics Fast Picker. The picker operates at Gundon's Bishop's Cleeve site in Gloucestershire and Grundon hopes that the machine will improve sorting efficiency on the line.
ZenRobotics' Fast Pickeruses artificial intelligence to become more and more advanced as it gains experience sorting municipal solid waste, light packaging waste, or dry mixed recycling. The Fast Picker can achieve up to 80 picks per minute. Before the machine can operate fully, Grundon will train the picker to pick and distinguish steel and aluminum cans, paper, and cardboard.
With the implementation of a Fast Picker, Grundon can increase the volume of recyclables at the company's Bishop's Cleeve site. The goal is to have a completely autonomous sorting site and ZenRobotic's Fast Picker is the first step. Operating a fully autonomous sorting plant will lower operating costs and deliver uninterrupted, reliable sorting.
"Both optical and robotic sorters can be deployed alongside humans in our waste sorting facilities," says Ed Fagan, Grundon's head of projects. "We can really see robotic sorters making a difference in environments which are less well suited for humans, such as the sorting of contaminated waste or working in areas with high levels of noise and dust."
