
A Rock-Sorting Robot - electic
http://www.wired.com/2016/05/someone-built-rock-sorting-robot-downright-hypnotizing/
======
JKCalhoun
[https://player.vimeo.com/video/167126696](https://player.vimeo.com/video/167126696)

------
justzisguyuknow
I forget where I heard it, but I recall a saying something along the lines of,
"The two most meditative things a person can watch are fire, and other people
working." I think this also kind of falls into that category.

PS if anyone knows the actual source of this saying please do comment

~~~
11thEarlOfMar
Don't know the source, but as far as 'watching other people working', here are
two of my favorites:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VGjA66RSm0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VGjA66RSm0)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P73REgj-3UE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P73REgj-3UE)

------
rm_-rf_slash
I wonder how useful this technology could be to zero-sort recycling. As much
of a hippie as I am, I don't think recycling can be solved by green bins and
awareness campaigns, but instead by the simplicity of throwing everything into
one bin that gets sorted when it reaches the processing plant.

It would also be helpful if this could sort organic material for use in
compost and sell it. Maybe even brand it. How much do you think people would
pay to use compost from Beverly Hills celebrities in their garden?

~~~
ZeroGravitas
There's similar tech already in use. Sorting flakes of different plastics can
be done by "vision" if you have different wavelengths of light, then tiny air
blasts can direct them into the right hopper.

Though, the more raw sorting that can be done the better for the system. Where
I am, we put food waste in its own bin, and frankly it just seems natural
after a very short time.

~~~
jonnycowboy
Also for berries, waves of berries are visually identified and blasts the "bad
ones" out of the stream. Very impressive (and fast) to watch.

~~~
wickawic
I can't find the video, but apparently at some canneries there used to be a
person who would very rapidly hit the tops of cans with a metal rod and listen
to the noise that it made. "Bad" cans sounded different and would be removed
from the line. After years of practice these workers were inhumanly fast at
the job.

~~~
igravious
And dead inside.

------
TheSpiceIsLife
I need this to help me deal with this problem at work
[https://imgur.com/HM8euP8](https://imgur.com/HM8euP8)

The laser cutter is capable of more product output than I have time to deal
with sorting and stacking them on to pallets. There's another 400 parts behind
me waiting to be broken free from their retaining tabs.

Each item is etched with a part ID. Some sort of computer vision + robot
should be able to do the job for me. I have the tools to put something like
that together.

Any leads?

~~~
huuu
Sometimes this can be done by simply trowing them in a funnel and let slots of
different sizes sort them. Just like those coin sorting machines.

But in your case a sorting conveyor belt could be the easiest way. The right
items are pushed off the belt at the right time.

Edit: an example:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajxs6_V8KJM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajxs6_V8KJM)

And by the way: if you got 50 unique items it doesn't mean you need 50 slots.
You can also create 10 and repeat the process for the unsorted items. But you
need to reprogram the system each run.

------
greut
It looks like (some parts of) the source code of this project is there:
[https://github.com/allesblinkt/riverbed-
vision](https://github.com/allesblinkt/riverbed-vision)

------
donquichotte
At first glance I read the title as "A Sock-Sorting Robot", something I'm
totally going to build.

------
twidlit
Crossing my fingers for a Lego sorting robot...

~~~
bbcbasic
Ha ha yes a kids toys and clothes sorting robot.

------
cwkoss
Wired sucks... adblock wall

~~~
1024core
In Firefox, click on "reader view". Problem solved.

