Objectif
The increasing scarcity for raw materials, growingly strict regulations (European Waste Directive & Landfill tax escalation) and social pressure have turned waste into a resource, making recycling highly attractive. This has created a major market opportunity for new technologies that achieve high purity of sorted materials at a low cost.
ZenRobotics Oy has developed a robotic waste sorting system ZenRobotics Recycler (ZRR) that has the potential to revolutionise waste sorting, replacing low-performing hazardous manual jobs with highly efficient and fast autonomous robotic pickers. The key innovation of ZRR is a unique machine-learning based system, which gathers gigabytes of data of its environment, makes smart decisions and moves a robot arm in an unpredictable environment. Given the novelty of the technology, a paradigm shift is necessary in waste management for wide uptake of ZRR.
The Robolution project develops the prototype ZRR into a reliable and commercially attractive system for sorting Commercial and Industrial waste that forms more that 25% of total waste stream. The project focuses on:
• Robot motion control to be able sort faster smaller objects and pick larger and heavier objects.
• Recognition to detect new fractions (plastics, ferrous/non-ferrous metals) with 95% purity and recovery.
• Development of the reporting tool enabling optimization within a waste sorting plant.
• Optimization of the ZRR commissioning and service to shorten time-to-market time.
• Testing and demonstration of the new functionality in real life conditions.
ZenRobotics targets the global waste sorting equipment market currently worth about €1.5-3 billion annually, but thanks to technological advances, the market is likely to explode. The expected annual turnover of the Commercial and Industrial waste ZRR reaches €150 million by 2021.
Champ scientifique
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwaste managementwaste treatment processesrecycling
- social sciencessociologyindustrial relationsautomation
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringroboticsautonomous robots
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicssustainable economy
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinateur
00100 HELSINKI
Finlande
L’entreprise s’est définie comme une PME (petite et moyenne entreprise) au moment de la signature de la convention de subvention.