ERO Concrete Recycling Robot

ERO Concrete-Recycling Robot Can Erase Entire Buildings

Demolition is a messy business--not only does the process require heavy machinery and produce clouds of dust, but it also results in giant piles of rubble that often head straight for the landfill. Omer Haciomeroglu, a student at Sweden's Umea Institute of Design has designed Ero - a robot that recycles concrete in an energy-efficient manner and separates it from rebar and other debris on the spot. The project won the 2013 International Design Excellence Award (IDEA) in the Student Designs category.

Heavy machines used in demolition consume large amounts of energy in order to crush concrete walls into small pieces, not to mention that demolition processes have to be accompanied by large amounts of water sprayed onto the structures to prevent the spread of dust. Once the work is done, the rubble is transported to recycle stations where waste is separated manually. Power crushers are used to pulverize the concrete and the metal is melted for reuse.

ERO Concrete Recycling Robot can efficiently disassemble concrete structures without any waste, dust or additional separation. It is strategically placed in a building in order to scan the environment and determine the optimal way in which the operation should be executed. This smart robot has the option of switching between pulverizing and smart deconstruction modes, taking buildings down step by step. It enables reclaimed building materials to be reused as prefab concrete elements by utilizing a water jet to crack the concrete surface, separate the waste and package the dust-free material.

After deconstructing the structure with high-pressure water and sucking and separating the aggregate, cement and water, the ERO robot recycles the water back into the system. Clean aggregate is packed and labeled to be sent to concrete precast stations for reuse, while rebar is cleaned and cut, ready to be reused.