Raspberry Pi fans have never been short of ideas to put the tool to good use, for applications as wacky as they are useful[1]. Now researchers are fitting the low-cost computer with artificial intelligence, high-resolution cameras and robots, to sort through rubbish and reduce the amount of waste going to landfills.
Engineers from Liverpool Hope University played around with a Raspberry Pi 3 model[2], combining the device with optical sensors and computer vision algorithms, to create a tool that can distinguish between paper, glass, plastic, metal and cardboard.
Set up in a material recovery facility (MRF), where household rubbish is usually sent to be sorted, the technology could spot different materials on the conveyor belt where waste is dumped, and accordingly instruct robots to recycle specific objects as they come towards them.
Karl Myers, from Liverpool Hope University's department of mathematics and computer science, told ZDNet: "It is designed to be integrated with any of the robotic systems that are on the market at the moment. The Raspberry Pi sends a signal via serial communication to the robotic arm about the position of the recyclables, and the robot just grabs the object."
The researchers said that the algorithm achieved up to 92% success rate, with a baseline performance of 90%, and argued that the approach was therefore viable for commercial use.
With the growing amounts of rubbish that are generated every year across the world, improving the performance of recycling facilities is key to avoid disposing of waste in landfill sites. Of the 229.9 million tons of solid waste generated in the UK in 2017 alone, only 47% were recycled. The Department for the Environment has set a goal of pushing recycling rates to 50% for 2020.
Currently, households in the UK are asked