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TechCrunch traveled to Austin to get a closer look at Daisy and its predecessors
Last week , TechCrunch ante up a sojourn to Apple ’s Austin , Texas , manufacturing facility . Since 2013 , the company hasbuilt its Mac Pro desktopabout 20 minutes north of business district . The 400,000 - straight - infantry facility sit in a maze of industry park , a fast trip to the south from the companionship ’s in - progress corporate campus . In late years , the upper-case letter city has transform into a hotbed of tech innovation , largely owing to a monumental talent pool generate by nearby University of Texas at Austin .
Construction on a newfangled $ 1 billion campus begin in 2019 . Shortly after the first phase was finished in 2022 , the society announced plan for a further expansion schedule to be completed in March 2025 . All separate , the Austin campus will comprise 133 Acre — rivaling the size of it of its 175 - acre Cupertino home office .
The Mac Pro front , meanwhile , can be linked straight to the company ’s bid to expand manufacturing in the U.S. The move get around 900 job to the area , producing the infamous“trash can”version of Apple ’s most premium desktop . Just in front of the pandemic , Appleconfirmedthat it would also be producing that model ’s heir in the metropolis .
Image Credits:Photo by Tamir Kalifa/Getty Images / Getty Images
After a prompt security CAT scan at the entrance , assembly lines populated with hundreds of the large“cheese grater ” desktopsgreet visitor in the front of the quickness . Beyond this sits course after row of storey - to - roof industrial shelving units housing nondescript cardboard box mob full of the high-priced systems .
Chutes and litter
A small recycling facility lie just beyond that . The spot is domicile to a moderate - sized industrial due east - waste sortation system . The maze of metallic element chutes utilize high - powered magnets to educe metals and uncommon earth stuff from Apple devices that have reached terminal of lifespan . Most of the existent e - waste sortation take place off - site in third - political party Es - waste direction facility . This specific system is or else utilized for the company ’s ongoing push to improve the process .
Such project are a key piece of Apple ’s tender to make its supply chain processcarbon neutral by 2030 . The political campaign follows a like push to achieve carbon counteraction for its world corporate surgery . Apple is n’t alone . Peers like Microsoft , Samsung and Google have announced similar goal to reduce their emission .
Moving forward , robotics will take on an increasingly central role in these efforts . Startups likeAmp RoboticsandGlacierhave issue in recent years , make for a combining of automation and AI - base vision systems to increase sortation efficaciousness and helpclose the loop on e - waste . It ’s an admirable goal , to be certain , but technological efficaciousness and consumer participation still have a long way to go .
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A very particular set of skills
While Apple ’s outbound - look robotics efforts have been comparatively minimal compared to the ilk of Amazon , automation has played some role in its equipment recycling efforts for more than a tenner . Tim Cook kick off a March 2016 iPad Pro keynote by breaking down the latest in the caller ’s sustainability sweat . Among the newsworthiness was Liam , Apple ’s in vogue attempt to leverage country - of - the - art robotics in its sortation efforts . The automaton that debuted at that upshot was really Liam 2.0 , an update to a golem the society began piloting behind the scenes in 2013 .
Liam 1.0 was very much a study in forward motion ( a label that is well applied to all of Apple robotics effort to - date ) ; in fact , the company now refers to the first - gen system as a “ enquiry undertaking . ” Utilizing a Fanuc industrial robotic arm , the cage system of rules was plan to secern ingredient on discarded iPhone 5s . Liam take 12 minute of arc to do its job .
A operation clocking in at more than 10 minute is of little value when contemplating the133 million telephone set Americans discardedthat class ( 11 % of which were reuse ) . Any potential drop to put Liam 1.0 to employment was further hampered by the fact that the arrangement was n’t remotely scalable .
Liam 2.0 began operating behind the panorama in January 2015 . The system deliver tangible improvement . Despite being smaller than its predecessor , the system dramatically repress the process ’ time down to 11 mo .
“ The automated disassembly system was custom build for the iPhone 6 with the power to disassemble 1.2 million iPhone unit per year,”Apple notedin a 2016 whitepaper . “ The output components from Liam are used for investigations in end - processing recycling applied science to recover material that can not be recovered at desired ordered series or sinlessness today . Liam represents Apple ’s investment in pre - processing technology . ”
While stage a significant improvement in efficaciousness , however , Liam 2.0 lead a short life , resigning from its post in May 2016 . It would take another six months before Apple filled the spot .
A robot built for 1.2 million
concord to a spokesperson for the ship’s company , its automaton name all commence as privileged jokes . Sometimes — as in the face with Liam — they were ab initio created as very questionable acronym .
“ essentially , we ’re all just environmental or robotics geeks , ” Sarah Chandler , Vice President of Environment and Supply Chain Innovation , severalise TechCrunch .
“ Probably the one part of Apple where the geeks get to name it , ” add together Patrick Wieler , Recycling Innovation Engineer . “ selling has n’t name them . ”
In spite of the fact that Apple has later deploy a system named “ Dave ” to extract the Taptic Engine from devices , it assures me that neither are a credit to Arthur C. Clarke ’s machinelike cautionary story , “ 2001 : A Space Odyssey . ”
The newest robot adds a morsel more time to the process , which now clocks in at 18 seconds .
However , Daisy significantly boil down Liam ’s overall step from 29 robots across 100 feet to four principal modules , while increasing the routine of material output streams from 8 to 15 . The biggest improvement is the increase in compatibility from a individual iPhone model ( the 6 in the case of Liam 2.0 ) to several . Apple has continually update that flesh in the 7.5 years since Daisy arrived . The robot now handle 29 unlike exemplar , up from 18 a year and a half ago .
The stark difference in cycle times between Liam 1.0 and Daisy is due , in part , to a fundamental rethink of the separation process . Whereas the first robot gingerly unscrew the various component , newer edition take a kind of brutish force approach . The golem “ punch out ” the ingredient now . Turns out it ’s importantly quicker to effectively rip a phone aside , and while the result is a lot less pretty , no one cares what discarded phones search like . It ’s not being refurbish , after all ; it ’s being melted down .
Enter the four chambers
Daisy sits in a cordoned - off section of the flooring , in front of two rows of tall cardboard boxes that are gradually make full with tiny , extracted components . The system is noisy when useable , a combining of metal punching metallic element and the hiss of fluid mechanics . Although it ’s not garish enough to call for the wearing of ear protection , I for certain would n’t advocate attempting to lead an interview nearby .
While importantly smaller than earlier automaton , Daisy is still imposing , mensurate 33 feet , cease to terminate . Like many industrial robots , its components are house inside a protective structure , help to avoid any potential rivulet - ins between a big , metal system and fragile human chassis . People are still in the loop , however , with three to four multitude deal different stations . The organisation is composed of four large glass boxes with industrial metal anatomy .
The process starts when a homo enters a bucketful of iPhones into the chute , after which Daisy individually places them onto a conveyor belt , one at a time . From there , the onboard mental imagery system of rules scan every machine . If it observe that one has entered the system of rules facedown , it goes back to the beginning . Rather than using a robotic system to rectify the equipment , each one wheel through this process until it set down face down , which , as you ’d envisage , is a 50 % chance .
If the gimmick has enter the system with the correct orientation , a combination of imaging and machine encyclopaedism identify the model type , which Daisy then handles accordingly . Liam ’s Fanuc arms have been replaced by Mitsubishi fashion model . Like most industrial robotic arm , these were initially designed with automotive manufacturing in mind .
That manufacture is , after all , 10 ahead of everyone else when it comes to deploy industrial mechanisation . A first automaton arm picks the earpiece up and place it onto a tablet , where a 2d arm picks it up places it into a metal bracket before peeling the presentation off the gimmick .
The second sleeping accommodation is the most optical arresting of the four , owing to the visible fog streaming out from industrial cool units kept at – 80 ° degree centigrade ( – 112 ° F ) . This is well below the 32 ° F to 95 ° F ( 0 ° C to 35 ° coke ) ambient temperature Apple recommend for the iPhone . In fact , it ’s cold enough to make the battery adhesive fail . After exposing the equipment to the extreme cold , Daisy slams the electric battery out . A second person stands at this place , monitor operations and retrieving the discarded batteries .
Inside the third bedroom , Daisy goes to work knocking out the diminutive screw , freeing the private component . This is where the brute force play really comes into play . Punching is significantly faster than using the automaton to individually unscrew each composition . Once in the quaternary and final chamber , a rotating tool scar on the individual components , where they land on a oscillate screen mesh , which facilitate separate the objet d’art out .
From there , they land on a large , spinning aerofoil , where another human is tasked with sort the objet d’art into different component great deal . Those will be emptied into the nearby composition board boxes , which , once full , will transport to an east - waste rendering facility .
Getting a grip
In fact , much like Liam , Daisy is composed of majority off - the - ledge ingredient . This is received in the intelligence of robotics , where the prevailing approach to construction systems is not reinventing the steering wheel for the sake of itself . This is especially the case with Daisy , of which two units have been produced . The nonage of components built in house are the end effectors , which are plan specifically to hold iPhones .
An early reading of Liam swear on a pneumatic suck cupful organisation — an selection that has find oneself increase favor in the industrial space in the last decade - summation . With Daisy , however , the company went back to a rigid gripper . While more stable than its soft robotics counterparts , these systems are not as compliant .
That ’s a immense benefit when seek to grip objects like produce , which can vary a good deal from one to the next . If your organization is designed to pick up objects like iPhones , with finite dimensional variations , the benefit of a compliment gripper are less pronounced .
The Austin system cover North American devices , while its twin in Breda , Netherlands , contend Europe ’s discarded iPhones . There is presently no tantamount organisation in Asia , Africa , South America or Oceania . Apple does , however , deploy a duo of systems — Dave and Taz — close to its manufacturing installation in China . These systems are specially design to extract tactile and audio portion from the telephone .
Scratching the surface
At its current footstep , Daisy can strip up to 1.2 million iPhones a year . It ’s a monolithic melioration over earlier models , but it ’s in the end a fall in the bucket , compared to the150 million smartphonesthat were toss away in 2023 ( roughly 416,000 per day ) . That in round is a mere fraction of the68 million lashings of gadgetsthat were shed out globally . Around 22 % of that turn was reuse , though , allot to the UN , the rate at which electronics are cast out is “ rise five times faster than document recycling . ”
While a nice start , recycle robot like Daisy have substantial scaling to do if they ’re going to have a meaningful impact on the$62 billion in lifelike resourcesthat were throw out instead of reuse last year .
Much of the issue stem from a lack of education or initiative around electronics recycling . Too many people keep old devices in drawers forever ( hangdog ) or but throw them out with the deoxyephedrine .
“ Hopefully you ’ve ensure our reports , ” says Chandler . “ We ’ve published websites and other extended story . ” I have , and if you ’ve made it this far into the piece , there ’s a comely chance you have , as well . Average iPhone emptor , on the other handwriting , are n’t seat down to readApple whitepapersin their limited free time .
Chandler adds , “ We ’re trying to play with message and get more resonance to find out what connects with people . ”
Apple sees Daisy as a form of ambassador for its recycling efforts . It not nearly where it needs to be in condition of swiftness and efficiency , but it ’s something newspaper headline grabbing that puts more eyes on the caller ’s end - of - life elbow grease .
“ One measured ton of textile recovered from Daisy forestall 2,000 metric tons of mining , ” Chandler says . “ I think we need to continue to do more and more with client conflict . That ’s why this is n’t going to be Daisy ’s most productive day . She ’s fly the coop a trivial sluggish to accommodate [ our facility turn ] . But that ’s worth it . That ’s how we get the substance out . ”
In increase to improving Daisy ’s throughput and — potentially — building more robots in new and existent geographies , dead on target proficiency mean create systems that deal an even greater product portfolio . Apple believes it ’s possible to accommodate these systems to manage non - iPhone products like MacBooks and iPads , but the companionship wo n’t reveal what ’s coming down the pipeline .
Apple has also invite other companies to license its Daisy IP patent for free . While there ’s a good second of variation between devices and manufacturing process , many of the steps are adaptable to other smartphones . While it ’s had conversation with some of the competition , no one has yet to take Apple up on the offer .
Extended life
When Daisy started military operation in November 2016 , Apple anticipated that the industrial robotic system would be operational for two to three class . After all , the two Liams that precede it only hung around for a twelvemonth or two . Apple briefly brought the robotic weapon system part of both system out for retreat as a form of museum slice to demonstrate how far the technology has come in the past decade .
Daisy is still chugging along 7.5 years later . Apple attributes such longevity to the system ’s adaptability , as tweaks to computer software and hardware have continued to farm the act of iPhones the automaton can do by .
Some of those improvements arrived by way of partnerships with schools like Carnegie Mellon University , a leading institution for robotics research and one of the birthplaces of autonomous driving . That specific partnership began around 2019 .
There ’s also a skillful hand of shared eruditeness across Apple ’s different divisions .
“ It ’s a constant dialog , ” enounce Wieler . “ We learn a long ton from the automation team work out on the new products , because they ’re always faced with their own unparalleled lot of challenges . We can build on their eruditeness there and then vice versa with their teams . When we deal how we were programming Daisy , it allows them to think about young approaches to the mechanisation of fresh products . ”
Apple robotics
The recent licentiousness of Apple’sill - fated electric auto projectreportedly spur the company to explore the notoriously difficult world ofhome robot . Prior to 2022 , the society was said to be exploring sovereign capacity , but ultimately dropped the plan as it scale back study on the so - called Project Titan .
Before it was abandon , the company build an telling team with expertise in arena like computer vision , car learning and automation that are key to robot like Daisy . Apple declined to go into inside information around the impact those projects might have had on Daisy ’s development .
Austin was a logical blank space for Daisy , sacrifice the amount of money the company has invested in the arena . The metropolis also gives Apple access to the growing powerhouse that is University of Texas at Austin ’s robotics department .
“ We ’ve get strong , long - standing connections here . We ’ve obviously got a lot of big campus here , so we ’re capable to do a bunch of reprocess here , ” allege Chandler . And it ’s been large for donnish partnerships , too . We are able-bodied to get quite a few interns . We get a lot folks who want to explore robotics , recycling and material recovery . ”
Like all major corporations , robotics ’ part will only get at Apple in the future tense . That includes fabrication , testing , recycling and , perhaps one day , commercially uncommitted product .
“ It ’s so significant to do it internally , ” enounce Wieler . “ Every evolution taught what we can do with automation and gives us a big whole step forward . ”
Chandler add together , “ We need to make [ Daisy ] as disused as [ Liam ] . You ’ve always got to keep drive further . ”
Update : The story has been updated to speculate that the novel time for Daisy ’s process is 18 seconds .
