THE NEXT TECH WAVE AT THE MRF?

摘要

Computer software advancements have allowed intelligent robots to recognize their environments, enabling them to fly planes, drive cars and vacuum dirty carpets without human intervention. Why not put them to work in recycling facilities? Robotics companies in Europe and North America are working on doing just that. What might have seemed far-fetched a few years ago - artificially intelligent computers recognizing items using grippers to snag them off a line - is today a reality in a handful of materials recovery facilities (MRFs) in Europe, Japan and the U.S. In addition, these machines are able to learn new material types, allowing them to potentially be important tools as MRFs adapt to the evolving ton.