YuMi Cobot Used for Automated Shoe Recycling

Robots can take on a wide variety of recycling tasks these days. This video from ABB Robotics shows how a YuMi robot can be used to recycle shoes. Every year, 300m shoes are thrown away, creating a big amount of waste. Max Ashford, a design student at ECAL university, has come up with a training shoe that can be robotically recycled.

This shoe has a detachable upper that is connected to a 3D printed sole with a series of cords. The robot scans a QR code to get the disassembly information. It then uses its gripper to lift the shoe, cut the cords, and remove the sections. The above video shows it in action.

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