PITTSBURGH — Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute gave Channel 11 an inside look at a new robot designed to tear apart old electronics like televisions.
It takes just seconds for the robot to open up a treasure trove of valuable recyclables inside the devices. With the cost of technology and electronics going up, Channel 11’s Rich Pierce found out how this recycling robot can help keep prices down.
The loud, powerful robot is the latest to come out of Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute.
Landfills are full of old technology, like flat panel TVs that contain a bunch of materials like gold, silver and some that aren’t produced in the U.S. Getting to those materials isn’t an easy task.
“When you go to actually do the disassembly on the displays, the thing that takes the most time, if you were to do it manually, is actually undoing the individual screws,” said Matt Travers, a senior systems scientist at CMU. “So, we have a robot that comes in and does it kinetically.”
The robot speeds up the process of taking apart e-waste and gets to the materials that can be recycled much faster. Those materials and precious metals can all be reused, which, in the end, could keep prices of items a little lower.
Travers has worked to perfect the robot for about five years and is working with Rubicon Robotics. Now that the robot is ready, it will head to a Pennsylvania company, with the hope that more will follow.
“It’s like a proud dad, I guess. It’s like I’m shipping it off to go to its first facilities in State College,” Travers said. “I have this fear and apprehension I want it to do well, but I’m very proud. I don’t have kids, so I imagine this is what it’s like to send one to college.”
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