The Machine

The Machine is Urban Machine's mobile robotic lumber-reclamation system. Vision-guided gantries and purpose-built end effectors remove nails, screws and staples from construction and demolition lumber, while a metal detector checks that recovered wood is ready for reuse.

Facts

  • Company: Urban Machine
  • Type: Industrial System
  • Positioning: Vision gantries
  • Function: Reclaim lumber
  • Audience: Recovery facilities
  • Status: Commercial
  • Website: https://urbanmachine.build/the-machine

About

About The Machine

The Machine is Urban Machine's mobile system for reclaiming dimensional lumber from construction and demolition sites. Computer vision locates nails, screws and staples, then high-speed gantries position purpose-built bird-beak pickers around the timber to pull fasteners from all four faces.

Brushes remove attached surface material and a metal detector checks each piece before it leaves the process. Software records the quantity and quality of recovered wood to plan site work and estimate reusable output. The system handles material from 2-by-4 boards through 6-by-18 sections, glulam and heavy timber, and is scheduled or rented for local processing near the waste source.

Specifications

  • Supported Lumber Sizes: Dimensional lumber from 2x4 to 6x18, plus glulam and heavy timber
  • Process Hardware: Vision systems, high-speed gantries, purpose-built end effectors and metal detector
  • Fastener Removal Coverage: Simultaneous extraction from all four planes of dimensional lumber
  • Lumber Throughput: Up to 16,000 square feet of lumber per day

Market context

Recovery facilities

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Timeline

  • Urban Machine selects Zivid 3D camera for lumber robot - 2023-10-04 - Capability - The Machine uses a Zivid 2 M70 industrial 3D camera. The camera supplies point-cloud data used to locate nails, staples and screws. Zivid reported throughput of up to 16,000 square feet of lumber per day. - source: zivid.com

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Deployments

  • Deployment Status - 2024-05-01 - Suffolk Technologies - construction-site lumber recovery - Suffolk Technologies initiated a pilot using The Machine to reclaim lumber from one Bay Area building for reuse in another. - source: urbanmachine.build
  • Customer Site - 2024-05-01 - Napa Recycling - construction and demolition material recovery - Urban Machine reported installed collection racks and robotic lumber reclamation at Napa Recycling’s recovery facility. - source: urbanmachine.build

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