The 2010 ASME Student Design Competition (SDC)

EARTH SAVER: Autonomous Material Sorter

Overview:

Recycling is a global industry accounting for more than 1.5 million jobs and $100 billion in
annual revenue1. As a whole, the industry currently processes more than 600 million metric
tons of material annually, growing with the expansion of the global, green economy. This
global expansion presents an increased need for new, efficient and cost‐effective waste
material sorters. The goal of the 2010 ASME Student Design Competition is to design, build,
and test an autonomous system capable of accurately sorting common recyclable materials,
namely ferrous and non‐ferrous metals, plastics and glass into distinct waste containers.

Your job is to design, build, and test a system capable of rapidly and accurately sorting the
four waste materials noted above into distinct waste containers. This system must operate
autonomously and be capable of both material identification and waste handling. Points will
be awarded based on the proper identification and handling of the waste materials, as well
as the speed required to process the materials and the weight of the device.

Project Details:

Students will be provided with a semi‐rigid waste container (a curbside recycling bin)
containing twelve (12), randomly‐distributed waste products, specifically:

1. Three (3) empty, irregularly‐shaped plastic bottles, measuring approximately 75

mm (± 20 mm) in maximum diameter and 220 mm (± 20 mm) tall.
2. Three (3) empty, irregularly‐shaped aluminum cans, measuring approximately 65
mm (± 20 mm) in maximum diameter and 120 mm (± 20 mm) tall.
3. Three (3) empty, irregularly‐shaped tin‐coated steel containers, measuring
approximately 75 mm (± 20 mm) in maximum diameter and 110 mm (± 20 mm)
tall.

1
Statistics are taken from http://www.recyclinginternational.com ‐ an independent publication of the
international recycling community.
 4. Three (3) empty, irregularly‐shaped glass containers, measuring approximately
60 mm (± 20 mm) in maximum diameter and 95 mm (± 20 mm) tall.

At the start signal, these waste products will be poured by one (1) student, without direct
student/waste product contact, from the semi‐rigid waste container into a clearly‐labeled,
un‐segmented/undivided hopper attached to the student’s automated waste sorter (AWS).
This student will then toggle a clearly‐labeled master shut‐off switch. Upon toggling, the AWS
will need to autonomously sort the twelve waste products into five (5) distinct, clearly‐
labeled waste containers (transparent bins, boxes, or bags provided by the students) – one
for each of the four (4) groups of waste products and a fifth container for
unsorted/unclassified objects.

Device Requirements:

1. The AWS must autonomously identify, handle, and sort the aforementioned
waste products.
2. The AWS must be powered by readily‐available, over‐the‐counter, dry‐cell,
rechargeable batteries.
3. The AWS must have a readily‐accessible and clearly‐labeled master shut‐off
switch.
4. The AWS must be deemed by the judges to be safe. Any system deemed at the
judges’ discretion to be unsafe will be immediately disqualified and not allowed
to participate in the competition.
5. To ensure ample space, the entirety of the AWS must fit within a container
measuring, on the inside, 340 x 580 x 400 mm. The AWS must fit within this box
fully assembled. Any expansion or extension of the AWS must be done
autonomously by the system itself during the competition run.
6. The five (5) waste containers (bins, boxes, or bags provided by the competitors)
– one for each of the four (4) groups of waste products and an additional (1)
container for unsorted/unclassified objects – must be clearly labeled and
transparent.

Contest Operation:

1. Each team will supply a full set of waste products to be sorted. Prior to the
competition, judges will place all of the waste products from all of the teams in
bins according to type. They will then randomly draw a set of waste products for
each team’s use during the competition. Therefore, teams will not be using
identical sets of waste products.
2. Prior to a team competing, their device will be set‐up in a 2 m x 2 m area. This
area will be bordered by a 200 mm high wall. The entire area will be covered by
thin plastic sheeting which will also cover the walls in order to entirely contain
any spills, etc.
 3. At the judges’ start signal, one (1) student will pour the twelve (12) waste
materials from the semi‐rigid waste container into a clearly‐labeled, un‐
segmented/undivided hopper attached to the student’s automated waste sorter
(AWS).
4. The student will then toggle a clearly‐labeled master shut‐off switch initiating
autonomous material sorting.
5. Time stops when the AWS has deposited all twelve (12) waste materials into the
five (5) waste containers and all waste materials have come to rest.
6. A maximum of five (5) minutes is allowed to complete the sorting and handling.
7. The AWS may not be touched or altered in any way during the run.
8. Any device not meeting the device requirements will be immediately
disqualified.
9. If glass is properly sorted into the glass container but is broken, the team will
receive a CS score of 1000 and a BG penalty of 4000. If broken glass is either put
into an incorrect container or the unsorted container, the team will receive an IS
penalty/US score and a BG penalty. If any broken glass is not completely
contained within the waste containers the team will receive an IS and a BG
penalty regardless of which container that the glass is partially in.
10. Distortion of waste containers in the sorting process is allowed.

Scoring:

• Points will be awarded on the following basis:

Score = (1000 x CS) – (1500 x IS) + (100 x US) – (3 x T) – (10 x W) – (4000 x BG)

where CS is the number of correctly sorted waste products, IS is the number of

incorrectly sorted waste products, US is the number of unsorted waste products, T is
the time required to sort the waste products in seconds (300 maximum), and W is the
total weight of the empty device in grams, and BG is the number of glass containers
broken.
• The team with the highest score at the competition’s conclusion will be declared the
winner.
• Any interaction with the device after the competition has begun will result in
immediate disqualification.
• If an AWS is deemed, at any time, to be unsafe by the judges, it will be immediately
disqualified.