Robots Being Used to Source Legacy Parts from E-Waste

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): E-Waste is one of humanity's greatest shames, with the level of waste and environmental destruction that it causes. But as more systems move into their legacy phase, looking for replacement parts is becoming increasingly more difficult, and this is where e-waste could shine. What challenges do legacy applications face, how could robots help solve this challenge, and could consumers turn to e-waste moving forward?

What challenges do legacy systems face?

As technology continues to rapidly improve, we are faced with a growing issue; legacy. More and more infrastructure and systems are ageing, and replacing these with updated hardware is, at times, simply not possible.

For example, power stations, traffic control, production line monitoring, and networks all require a high degree of up-time, proven reliability, and ease of maintenance. As such, these applications will often use hardware that has been tried and tested for years, meaning that they will often be several years behind the latest technology. When these systems do fail, it is often difficult to find replacement hardware, but this is far from guaranteed.

One solution to this challenge is to utilise e-waste, whereby technology is refurbished and brought back into use to help extend the life of legacy systems. It is also possible to find perfectly usable components and chips on older equipment that can be extracted and used in such legacy applications. 

But trying to find valuable parts in e-waste is no small feat. Not only does the sheer amount of e-waste generated make sorting and decommissioning expensive, the amount of processing needed to remove components from their circuits can be incredibly labour intensive. In fact, it’s not uncommon for salvage operations to put circuit boards through controlled fires to melt away the solder and release components, but in doing so, will often destroy any part that was integrated onto the PCB.

Startup turns to robots to find valuables in e-waste

Recognising the challenges faced with e-waste and legacy systems, a start-up based in San Francisco is working to develop a fully autonomous system that can identify reusable RAM chips on circuit boards that are going to be shredded and turned into aggregate.

The new system, called Nantul, utilises robotics, computer vision, and neural nets to identify where chips are located on a PCB, then find their datasheets online, and apply controlled heat and suction to remove them from their board with minimal damage. According to the company, it expects that each machine will be able to extract around 300 RAM ICs per hour, and eventually hopes to be able to roll out this solution in the UK through a partnership with the UK recycler Areera.

While the company is yet to produce commercial results, it is expected that their first focus will be on recovering RAM as these ICs have a substantial reuse value, are commonly found on most circuit boards, and are somewhat standardised. Thus, they can easily be used in most legacy applications where RAM is needed.

However, the start-up also acknowledged the numerous challenges faced with trying to reuse electronics. Firstly, the system needs to be able to adapt to the vast number of electronics that exist, all of which are built to extremely varied standards. Secondly, once removed from a circuit board, chips need to be carefully tested for reliability. Thirdly, the system needs to be economical enough to scale, so that extracting chips from boards is cheaper than simply buying new parts.

Could consumers turn to e-waste as we move into the future?

It is clear that the increasing cost of electronics, the shortages on chips, and the ever growing mountain of e-waste that exists will result in e-waste being used differently in the future.

Unlike e-waste of the past, future e-waste will likely contain circuits that still have some degree of value and use, potentially seeing a major shift in how we handle old devices. Considering that over the past decade, computing hardware hasn’t seen enough of an advance to make older systems useless, it is likely that computers as old as 10 years could still be used in modern setups.

Even going back two decades, DDR3 memory can still be used in low-end applications, such as IoT, sensors, and microcontroller-based systems. If this becomes the case, then it is very possible that we will see improved recycling facilities that pay customers for their e-waste while selling the scrapped chips and components that are still perfectly usable.

It may even turn out that these scrapped parts will find their way into new markets, where users can go and get their old parts upgraded and put back to use. But of course, this all depends on market forces and how companies decide to deal with e-waste.

Courtesy: www.electropages.com