At an RDS of Virginia recycling center in Roanoke, two spider-like, 300-pound robots sort through an unending line of trash. Matanya Horowitz's AMP Robotics uses AI to teach robots how to recognize objects based on their colors, shapes, textures and logos. To learn about recycling, Horowitz spent his weekends driving to recycling facilities around Los Angeles. Recycling robots were further along in Europe than in the United States. Appingedam, Netherlands-based Bollegraaf, which had filed patents for recycling robots in the 1990s, for example, had created robots that rely on spectroscopy and the heights of objects to sort waste.

Source: Forbes November 12, 2020 12:00 UTC