Multiple stage sorting
AssigneeSortera Technologies, Inc.
InventorsNalin Kumar, Manuel Gerardo Garcia, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A material sorting system sorts materials utilizing multiple stages of classification and sorting, including a vision system that implements an artificial intelligence system in order to identify or classify each of the materials, and an x-ray fluorescence (“XRF”) system or Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy to perform a subsequent classification and sorting of the remaining materials.
Claims15
A system for handling a first mixture of materials comprising a plurality of different classes of materials, the system comprising:
- an image sensor configured to capture visually observed characteristics of each of the first mixture of materials;
- and
- a data processing system comprising a machine learning system implementing a neural network configured with a previously generated set of neural network parameters to classify a first plurality of materials of the first mixture as belonging to a first class of materials based solely on the captured visually observed characteristics, wherein the previously generated set of neural network parameters are uniquely associated with the first class of materials, wherein the plurality of materials of the first mixture classified as belonging to the first class of materials possess a chemical composition that is different from the materials within the first mixture not classified as belonging to the first class of materials.
A method for handling a first heterogeneous mixture of separable materials comprising a plurality of different types of materials, the method comprising:
- capturing visually observed characteristics of each material piece of the first heterogeneous mixture of materials with a camera;
- assigning, with an artificial intelligence system implementing a neural network configured with a previously generated set of neural network parameters, a first classification to certain ones of the first heterogeneous mixture of materials as belonging to a first type of materials based solely on the captured characteristics of each material piece of the first heterogeneous mixture of materials, wherein the previously generated set of neural network parameters are uniquely associated with the first type of materials;
- and
- sorting the certain ones of the first heterogeneous mixture of materials from the first heterogeneous mixture as a function of the first classification, wherein the sorting produces a second heterogeneous mixture of materials that comprises the first heterogeneous mixture of materials minus the sorted certain ones of the first heterogeneous mixture of materials.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.