Recycling is a key process for a sustainable future, and yet it is far from desired levels of efficiency. As mixed-stream recycling is the most common approach for domestic waste, the recycling industry heavily relies on the development of reliable waste sorting technologies. Robotic systems have remarkable potential for fulfilling this need and moving the industry to the next level.
The goal of this project is to develop technologies for waste sorting. The project members will have the opportunity to learn more about the recycling industry, develop robotic systems, and have a significant impact on the robotics research for recycling.
The MQP team built an experimental setup for testing robotic waste sorting methods. The team also worked on robotic sensing and manipulation technologies, Design robotic end-effectors for effective waste picking and Implemented machine learning methods for waste identification and picking.
Please send an e-mail to Berk Calli bcalli@wpi.edu and Sarah Wodin-Schwartz swodinschwartz@wpi.edu for further questions.
Manipulation and Environmental Robotics Lab (MerLab) conducts research on dexterous manipulation strategies and their applications. We integrate computer vision, control theory, and machine learning techniques to achieve skillful and robust robotic systems.
One of the essential goals of the MER Lab is to identify environmental problems (e.g. recycling, waste sorting) that robots can alleviate, and to develop solutions for the missing manipulation capabilities.
MER Lab also works on benchmarking efforts for robotic manipulation in collaboration with various other research labs.
For any questions, please e-mail bcalli@wpi.edu.
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