Plastic-sorting bots to save the Earth, starting with Japan

Japanese researchers at the Mitsubishi Electric Engineering Corp and Osaka University have developed a robot that can truly help the planet, at least step by step. One of the biggest environmental problems we are facing today is the use of plastic, or more specifically our failure to recycle it properly. Despite many campaigns and attempts to get people motivated for sorting their garbage, the vast majority of plastic materials today still end up with the regular trash. Their slow-to-decompose nature means they are filling up the cities’ landfills and polluting the oceans at an alarming rate.

That’s why the robot, which is equipped with sensors and laser beams for sorting out and allocating the six different types of plastics that can be reused, is so important. Human workers lack this ability, and this is where one can see how beneficial robots can really be. Digging through the trash may not sound like the most glamorous job ever, but someone has to do it if we are to get back on the right track.

The robot itself looks more like a storage box, which is sort of what it’s supposed to be. It has a garbage slot tray with a weight scale, a transfer basket and recycling box, and a main display at the front, which contains the lazar senses that identify the different types of plastic. It is actually quite large in size, measuring up to 5ft 6ins (1.7m) by 6ft 9ins (2.1m).

Initially, a smaller version of the robot is going to be tested out at stores in Osaka and Nara, and is being released by the manufacturing company IDEC Corp. If the trial proves successful, more robots like this will be sold and put to work all over Japan for around $US 55,000.

Robotic Aircraft to study Earth from above

Scientists from NASA and Northrop Grumman have created a unmanned aircraft that will study the Earth in the most extreme of conditions, giving us new insight into various types of natural phenomena. Global Hawks will be able to fly up to very high altitudes from which it will use monitoring tools to collect even more precise data than current satellites. It can also travel greater distances than any other aircraft designed so far, and it can remain stationed for longer periods of time.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who will work alongside NASA in guiding the Global Hawks through the science missions, predict the machine will be able to achieve amazing feats, such as flying directly over a hurricane to record its intensity and other properties. The aircraft can also be stationed in the very low temperatures of the Arctic ocean, where it can observe sea ice changes, and gather crucial information we might be missing. Some of the instruments at its disposal will be able to map out the properties of clouds, measure pollutants and other gasses in the air, as well as detect biological life and processes in the oceans.

Global Hawks will correspond with the Aura Satellite, which gives daily reports on things like climate changes or ozone layer levels. The satellite, however, can only observe broad changes to a region, while the unmanned aircraft will be able to see all the little details that complete the picture. It will be interesting also to compare the meteorological data gathered by each observatory machine, to see if there are any differences.

As can be inferred, Global Hawks can operate entirely on its own. After it has been given its mission and coordinates, it takes off, navigates and lands without the help of a pilot. Still, scientists can give it new directions while in the air, so it won’t be entirely helpless should it find itself in danger. Good thing too, because God knows how much the thing cost to create.