Pricing
How much is your robot?
Depending on your needs and type of application. Customer’s average return on investment is 18 months. Contact us for more info.
ROI on robot?
Customer’s average is 18 months.
Are there any hidden license fees?
Never.
Can I try it before I buy it?
Yes, but it can be expensive to try it (shipping, installation, integration). If you’d like to test it before buying it, you can refer to SAAS (Sorting as a Service).
How does SAAS work?
SAAS (Sorting as a service) is different from leasing. We provide a fully functional robotic sorting system with included maintenance. SAAS is a sorting service not a financed equipment sale (lease). The system belongs to WR and we are responsible for its performance.
Do I have to pay a monthly license fee to use the robot I bought?
No, but we offer various hardware/software service packages in order to maintain. equipment, software and intelligence up to date.
What is warranty?
Robot warranty refers to FANUC. They provide a full 1-year warranty. To this day, we never experienced a problem with robots.
Maintenance
What’s the maintenance requirement?
Robot needs low maintenance. A few hours maintenance is required per months, specifically to clean cameras windows and grippers.
Do I need a rocket scientist for maintenance?
No. Maintenance can easily be done by one of your employees. We take care of software maintenance remotely.
How often the robot breaks?
The mean time between failure is 100 000 hours.
Can you provide a local service?
We are affiliated with FANUC. They have a worldwide network and we can send a specialist to repair the robot in a few hours.
Robot
How many references do you have?
We actually have more than 15 worldwide references (North America, Europe, Australia).
How many picks/min does your robot do?
In this emerging industry, there is a confusion between robotic moves per minute and picks per minute. We like to talk EFFECTIVE pick per minute. It doesn’t matter how fast your robot move, what’s important is how many effective picks it really does.
So how many effective picks per minute? As many as you need, we will put the number of robots necessary to achieve the application.
What is quality sorting?
+90% effective grabbing, +95% purity rate and always improving. Using robots, you can recover +40% more materials (customer’s average). Robot is always picking the most valuable material to recycle.
How heavy can it lift?
Our strongest robot can lift up to 25kg (55 pounds).
What’s the availability of the equipment?
24/7. Meantime between failure is 100 000 hours.
Can your robot recognize objects that are touching or overlapping?
Yes, our multi-sensor robots can clearly recognize moderately overlapping objects.
Can your robot beat my best human sorter?
Absolutely, because it doesn’t eat, break or sleep. Quality and speed work are constant. Moreover, it can see material composition invisible to the human eye.
How fast can your robot learn to identify new objects?
If you come across a new object, you can scan few dozen examples that will get uploaded to the Waste Robotics Cloud Service and few days later you will be able to sort this object with precision.
Is having several slower robots better than having one (1) fast robot?
Absolutely! Several robots working in series augments the robot’s workspace and material contact time so there are more opportunities to make the picks. Two (2) 30 picks/min robots will achieve more effective picks than one (1) 60 picks/min robot.
Can an army of little robots beat an optical sorter?
Absolutely, it will deliver better quality sorting and sort several fractions in a single pass. Robots can also be optical sorter’s best friend.
Can you adapt your robot to fit my application?
That’s one of Waste Robotics key differentiator. We deliver specifically adapted robotic sorting applications.
Can your robot do everything?
No, it needs to work along other processes and operational strategy. It’s not a silver bullet, it’s a very strong tool in your tool box.
Technology
What kind of waste can you handle?
Any type of waste. We will design the right solution to your needs. C&D, C&I, paper, plastics and other recyclables, mining, scrap metal, electronics, etc.
Is the robot learning by itself?
It’s a myth. Like a kid, we have to teach the robot a new trick.
How does hyperspectral work?
Every material will absorb light differently. By shining light on an object and looking at the reflected light, we can tell the chemistry of the object by identifying which wavelengths were absorbed. That’s how we can tell the chemistry of products under the robot.
With hyperspectral, we can then see the difference between type of plastics and provide a better purity rate sorting and higher bale value.
Can the robot learn new tricks?
Absolutely, we can teach new tricks with new training/new gripper.
Can the human work jointly in the robot
No. We don’t suggest collaborative robots because they are too slow.
What is gripper’s AI?
Grabbing objects with fingers require a complete understanding the 3D environment. We have to make sure we are not going to hit objects surrounding the target object. We also need to develop a pick strategy that makes the most sense. For example, you are not going to pick a plastic bottle lengthwise. In situations where there are overlapping objections, we need to pick the top ones first. All these decisions require gripper intelligence.
Can you provide different type of grippers?
Yes. Waste Robotics designs and fabricates specialized robotic tooling for various waste sorting applications.
Performance
Is it possible to go on site and visit?
Absolutely! We frequently do live demos. Contact us to plan a visit.
How can you guarantee it’s gonna work?
We work with you until performances are reached.
Can the performance increase?
Yes, we can teach it to detect with more and more precision. It can always be improved.
What do you do with my data?
We use it to make your machine better.
Spare parts & shipping
Do you ship worldwide?
Yes we ship and offer service everywhere.
How long to get a robot these days?
It varies with the project. Minimum is 12 weeks.
What’s the availability of spare parts/wearable parts?
We stock critical parts and can have them to you in less than 40 hours.
Do I need to carry a lot of spare parts inventory?
No, only the wearables. For the rest we have you covered.
