Robot picking

The project

Thanks to artificial intelligence, waste sorting at faciliites takes a step towards the future

Our Group’s strategy foresees the taking of concrete action for the circular economy, one of the mainstays in making life better and more sustainable for people and for the Planet itself. Promoting the sorting of waste, improving the recovery of collected waste and reducing its production with a policy of re-use are among the aims of our 2021-2030 Business Plan.
The recycling of material will prove increasingly crucial for the future of the environment and of our communities. To re-use waste and transform it into new material, it is of paramount importance to be able to count on homogeneous flows, eliminating as many impurities and contaminations as possible. 

Currently, sorting processes at waste treatment facilities are still carried out manually by workers, who do this continuously for many hours a day. As well as being tiring, this way of working does not always deliver the best results, given the inevitability of human error. In this context, the constant evolutions of artificial intelligence and precision robotics can make a substantial contribution in the development of increasingly advanced solutions 

We at A2A are investing in digitalization, adopting an innovative model that enables us to evolve with useful and sustainable technologies. For this reason, we have started a project to test the use of robot picking solutions in order to achieve a three-fold goal: 

  • improving the quality and purity of material sent for recycling/recovery
  • reducing the cost of labour currently needed for manual sorting
  • improving the safety conditions for the workers themselves
  • How robot picking works
  • The advantages

How robot picking works

An innovative technology that helps operators do their job

This project was conceived specifically for the separation of waste arriving from covered markets and from large-scale retail outlets. In order to keep costs down, we have developed an ad hoc robot picking system using technologies available on the market and open source.
The system is made up of a video inspection component, able to recognize different types of material, and a robot arm that intercepts and lifts out material as it passes on conveyor belts inside the facility, adapting itself to different sizes and specifications. 

The advantages

We optimize times and costs to the benefit of the environment

Selective picking system bring many advantages

Greater safety

We are improving the working conditions of those involved on waste sorting lines.

Increased revenue

We are optimizing the sorting process with a possible maximization of volumes collected for material with the highest market value, in addition to the possibility of running the sorting line for more shifts, every day of the week.

More accuracy

We can recover a greater amount of recyclable material.

The pilot project was successfully completed, demonstrating how robotic systems can operate at speeds equal to or higher than those possible for an operator while maintaining a comparable accuracy in terms of the pick-up and recognition of material. These results were such that we decided to continue development and extend the solution to other facilities and on other material flows.

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