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Sensor based planning and control for the automatic sorting of recyclablematerial

Objetivo



Research objectives and content
Due to the continually rising intake of waste and the further reduction of the capacity of dumps, many countries of the European Community have been seeking solutions for the disposal of waste since the early 70's. Recycling of wasted materials seems to be the most effective way to solve this challenging problem. In general for technical reasons, it is necessary to sort the material by group during the recycling process. Currently, this sorting is performed manually on so-called 'reading conveyor belts'. Unfortunately, this method allows for increasing physical and hygienic burdens on the personnel, mainly through micro organisms, especially fungus and fungus spores. This results in a high rate of absence due to illness, a high turnover among the employees, and low motivation, with evident economic consequences. At the 1996 Hannover Industry Convention, Fraunhofer IPA (the host institution) presented a robotic cell for the semi-automatic sorting of waste: the recyclable material to be sorted is poured onto a moving conveyor belt, where it is identified and localised by the service personnel by means of a touch-screen system. A Scara SR 80 E robot picks the identified waste item, and deposits it in the corresponding shunt. The conveyor belt is covered with a glass plate to protect the service personnel from possible health hazards.
The objective of the present project is the full automation of the above cell and the improvement of its performance, through the following steps: - Design and implementation of a vision system for the automatic localisation and gripping of the items on the moving conveyor belt (a proper use of fuzzy logic will allow dealing with the many uncertainties in the available data) - Design and implementation of a sensor-based system for the automatic classification of the gripped items (for the developmentof this module up-to-date sensor technology will be used, and the application of neural networks will be exploited) - Design and implementation of a new task planning module, based on the optimised scheduling of the items to be gripped. - Development of a new control module, which is able to manage in real time all the sub-processes (localisation, classification, planning) that constitute the overall system.
Training content (objective, benefit and expected impact)
Through the development of the above project, the applicant will have the opportunity of - implementing her previous theoretical work in the advanced robotics lab of the chosen host institution; - enlarging her know-how by dealing with sensor technology and real-time programming issues, and by having access to up-to-date knowledge at the host institution; - facing challenging problems of practical interest, arising in service robotics; - getting aware of the relevant issues and goals in projects of industrial relevance; - acquiring up-to-date know-how in the field of industrial solutions for environmental problems, allowing her to contribute to the growth of awareness and the development of her country, where she can bring back the acquired knowledge at the end of the research period.On the other hand, thanks to the acquired know-how and to her previous knowledge in the field of task-based modelling and advanced control techniques for complex robotic systems, the candidate will contribute to increasing the degree of automation of the robotic cell available at the chosen host institution for the semi-automated sorting of waste materials. In particular, she will automate the localisation and classification processes, improve the task-planner of the system and, accordingly, she will update the overall controller.
Links with industry / industrial relevance (22)
The presented project will contribute to the development of a project of common interest sponsored by the Ministry of Economy of Baden-W|rttemberg, Germany, and managed by the Fraunhofer IPA. Six German companies participate to this project, among which a company dealing with waste sorting systems (Zehner Abfallsortieranlagen Betriebs-GmbH, Heilbronn), a recycling centre (WRZ Hvrger GmbH & Co. KG, Sontheim/Brenz), and a machine manufacturer (Maschinenfabrik Bezner GmbH & Co. KG, Ravensburg).

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Coordinador

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderungder angewandten Forschung e.V.
Aportación de la UE
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Dirección
12,Nobelstraße
70569 Stuttgart
Alemania

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Participantes (1)

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