Colorado-based AMP mentioned it has put in lots of of methods throughout three continents. | Supply: AMP
2024 marked a interval of change for AMP Robotics Corp. The corporate began the yr by dropping the “robotics” from its title to spotlight its expanded portfolio of choices. Later within the yr, it welcomed Tim Stuart, the previous chief working officer of Republic Companies Inc., as its new CEO.
These modifications, nonetheless, didn’t sluggish AMP’s progress. It additionally introduced deployments in North Carolina and Virginia. The Louisville, Colo.-based firm ended the yr by elevating $91 million in funding.
In Virginia, the corporate’s AMP One system processes 150 tons of municipal strong waste (MSW) per day. The system extracts blended recyclables and natural materials from the MSW. AMP mentioned the system is working at over 90% uptime.
Tim Stuart sat down with The Robotic Report to offer perception into the corporate’s expertise and his time at AMP.
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AMP plans to turn into an working firm
Stuart got here to AMP with intensive expertise within the waste trade.
“I had the lucky likelihood of coming into the waste area a few years out of undergrad with WM [Waste Management Inc.] and in a administration coaching program,” he mentioned. “I acquired the chance to maneuver to totally different areas and tackle growing duty. I moved over to Republic after about 11 years at WM and did the identical factor.”
Finally, Stuart turned chief working officer of Republic, the place he was in command of 40,000 workers, $15 billion in income, and 550 areas throughout the U.S. and Canada.
“I had identified AMP as a result of, clearly, Republic had run recycling amenities,” he recalled. “We had bought and used their robots to make us more practical and environment friendly on recycling sortation strains.”
Stuart mentioned his expertise working for corporations that have been historically AMP’s prospects will assist transferring ahead.
“We’re turning into extra of an working firm,” he mentioned. “So, we’re going to take this expertise and associate with different corporations or municipalities to function their amenities.”
“I believe I’ve a singular perspective to guarantee that we’re injecting this in the correct place on the proper time and with the correct companions going ahead,” Stuart continued.
AMP’s purpose is to divert extra waste from landfills by guaranteeing the elimination of extra recyclables and organics out of the waste stream.
Inside AMP’s AI and expertise
AMP ONE is designed to make recycling of municipal strong waste, proven right here, extra economical.
Whereas AMP has dropped “robotics” from its title, that doesn’t imply the firm stopped utilizing the expertise.
“We’re going to proceed to construct robots and use our enterprise methods to arrange these sortation strains for municipalities or for the large waste haulers, like waste connection,” Stuart mentioned. “We’re additionally going to go a bit of extra aggressive on that MSW facet of issues, and we’re engaged on our first large deal there. We hope to make it public in Q1.”
“The AI, the expertise, and the robots have been an integral a part of AMP for the final 10 years, and I believe the staff has stayed abreast and really pushed ahead on loads of that,” he added. “A lot of the power early on was targeted on making the sortation line more practical and environment friendly. What you’ll see going ahead is that we’ll proceed to all the time be more practical and environment friendly, however we’ll develop outdoors of the sortation line.”
This consists of understanding and with the ability to decide something that comes via the road, which requires superior AI. AMP is working to construct all of its expertise in-house.
“The expertise is homegrown, I believe we’ve got 60 or 70 patents through the years that Matanya [Horowitz] and his engineering staff have constructed and put into observe,” mentioned Stuart. “The brains are all AMP, and we construct some points of the gear. However we additionally go procure another elements of it to essentially put that complete sortation line in.”
What’s limiting the robotic waste sortation market?
Whereas AMP is working across the clock to advance sortation expertise in waste administration, there are nonetheless limitations holding again adoption.
“It hasn’t occurred as a result of the expertise has not been there, and the associated fee related to doing this was too excessive to essentially have an answer,” Stuart mentioned. “So the AMP staff has constructed this expertise, we’ve had it deployed in Virginia for a couple of yr, testing and doing R&D on it, and it’s prepared for prime time now.”
A lot of the waste sortation trade has been investing in automating totally different processes, he famous.
“I believe the trade has been extra targeted on the mechanics on the hauling facet, the vehicles, and the gear related,” Stuart mentioned. “We try to take that and transfer that expertise, or that significance, to what we do in MSW.”
Even with these limitations, Stuart sees loads of potential for the robotics and automation bettering sustainability.
“We imagine that we are able to have a huge effect on the atmosphere, and alter that equation to essentially cut back as much as 60% of the fabric going to the landfill. That could be a huge recreation changer for the trade.”