Eriez Device Harvests Shredder Coins

New A.I. Sorter can recognize and liberate coins from shredded nonferrous material.

BRIAN TAYLOR | APRIL 16, 2019

Equipment and technology provider Eriez has introduced its A.I. Sorter, a camera-equipped vision sorter that can harvest coins from nonferrous mixed shredded metals, such as the zebra (high-density metals) grade.

The Erie, Pennsylvania-based company says the A.I. Sorter was designed in cooperation with Fort Worth, Texas-based research institute NanoRanch to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to sort to 95 percent or greater accuracy.

The recycling application attracting the greatest initial interest, according to Eriez CEO Tim Shuttleworth, is the identification and collection of coins, which are present in significant volumes in the auto hulks that pass through auto shredding plants.

Shuttleworth and Nalin Kumar of NanoRanch indicated, in a conversation at the ISRI2019 convention in Los Angeles, that some studies and samples show the average end-of-life vehicle in the United States may contain as much as $10 worth of coins that have settled underneath or between parts of car seats.

Shuttleworth said there are already A.I. Sorter units operating in this capacity in the U.S., and that two additional units were sold (and others quoted) on the floor of the ISRI2019 scrap recycling convention.

Kumar and Shuttleworth say other applications suitable for the A.I. Sorter  beyond the positive sort for coins includes identifying and ejecting printed circuit board (PCB) pieces from shredded scrap or identifying and ejecting ammunition shells and casings. The machine also can be taught to identify and separate wrought aluminum from cast aluminum.

The basic A.I. Sorter uses just one camera to analyze a stream of up to 1,000 pounds per hour of material. Units also can be built with two cameras to double that capacity, or with four cameras to reach a capacity of from 4,000 to 5,000 pounds per hour.

Kumar says the A.I. Sorter takes about two to four hours to learn the “basics” of what it needs to identify, and can be taught to work in more than one application. For recyclers who wish to switch between applications, Kumar says that process takes only about 45 seconds.

The A.I. Sorter is being sold globally, says Shuttleworth, and can be taught to recognize which ever coins or materials are most common in a given market.