Bin Chen, associate professor at Purdue Fort Wayne, recently received two grants totaling more than $560,000 for recycling research projects involving AI.
The first grant is a two-year $100,000 effort to help UHV Technologies Inc. reduce production costs and create a machine to sort plastic bottles for conversion into chemicals or other usable materials. As the crushed bottles roll down a conveyor belt, a camera system uses AI to recognize and sort them into classifications, making the process more accurate and efficient.
The second grant of more than $450,000 was submitted for a collaboration between UHV Technologies and Penn State University to sort batteries for recycling. The three-year project’s goal is to increase consumer participation in battery recycling programs, improve the economics of recycling and establish state and local collection programs. Chen will develop and design a similar sorting AI for this program.
“I believe AI will be, or is increasingly being, integrated into manufacturing processes,” Chen said in a press release. “Traditionally, many of these processes rely on human judgment and expertise. The latest advancements in AI — for example in computer vision — can improve productivity and automate many labor-intensive tasks.”
Two Purdue Fort Wayne graduate students have been chosen to participate in the first project, but Chen is still looking for students for the second.
“These grants not only support the cutting-edge research activities at Purdue Fort Wayne, but also provide great opportunities for our students to engage in these projects,” Chen said in a press release. “I believe all things we do in a university should aim to improve our students so that they have the required knowledge when they graduate.”
For more information, visit pfw.edu.
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Contact Health & Environmental Reporter Hanna Rauworth at 317-762-7854 or follow her on Instagram at @hanna.rauworth.
