AMP Robotics

Launched in 2015, AMP Robotics applies machine learning and robotics technology to the challenges of the recycling problem.

Throughout the world, recycling operations are dependent on manual labor to sort material. This is a difficult, low-paying, and dull job, with facilities facing issues with turnover on a daily basis. The AMP system helps deal with many of these issues.

AMP Robotics is a startup founded on the idea that tasks previously requiring the dexterity of the human hand or the precision of the human eye are now open to robotics. They are developing a system for the automatic sorting of recyclable material. Sorting and picking system can complete 80 picks per minute and the equivalent of 3 human shifts per day. 

"AMP" stands for Autonomous Manipulation and Perception. AMP Robotics has created Cortex, a robotic system that can rapidly pick recyclable materials off a conveyor belt for recovery. This is enabled by Neuron, artificial intelligence that peers into the recyclable stream to identify individual pieces of recoverable material. AMP's products are designed to meet the demanding needs of Material Recovery Facilities: higher throughput, increase commodity revenue, better bale quality, and a fixed labor rate over time.

Cortex is designed to work in single stream, mixed waste, construction & demolition, and e-waste facilities.

It is characterized by Computer vision, that transform the material on recycling lines into valuable data. The vision system learns and recognizes material in the dusty commingled conditions of recycling facilities. Smart Sorting Robots, which sort at super human speeds with no expensive retrofit. AMP's Cortex robot rapidly picks recyclable materials off conveyor lines and place into bins for market. Controls Expenditures, where AMP Cortex provides a fixed rate for sorting stations while lowering labor rates and associated costs, which represent a Material Recovery Facility's highest operating expenses.

The startup has already won many awards, such as The Ecolab Award for Circular Economy Digital Disruptor in 2018, the NWRA’s 2017 Innovator of the Year award, and it was the Circular’s 2018 Tec Disruptor finalist. It has been featured by CBS.
AMP recently partnered with Ryohshin to develop industrial automation for construction and demolition recycling.