The 2010 ASME Student Design Competition (SDC)
EARTH SAVER: Autonomous Material Sorter
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.
As a student, 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.