Eric Law: Lumber, Robotics, Innovation, Sustainability | Turn the Lens Ep31

Turn the Lens with Jeff Frick

Eric Law went searching for robotics opportunities in the construction industry, where machines have been used for decades, starting with earth-moving steam shovels in the 19th century. Recently, drones have taken on some of the more difficult and dangerous tasks. Eric discovered numerous opportunities for robotics, but one stood out due to its size, scale, and ubiquity: wood waste from construction and demolition.

**The Problem:** While steel and concrete have established reuse and recycling streams, 37 million tons of dimensional wood from construction sites are burned or buried in landfills in the US each year. This represents about half of the virgin softwood dimensional lumber produced for US consumption annually.

**The Cause:** Why couldn’t this wood be easily reused? Metal fasteners. Nails, screws, staples, and other fasteners in the used wood could cause significant damage and potentially injury if they were put back through the milling process. The saws, planers, and other equipment are designed to easily cut and process wood, not metal.

**The Solution:** Use robots to quickly and efficiently remove the metal from the used wood, certify its status as 'metal-free' with a metal detector, and then return it to the lumber supply.

Eric partnered with Andrew Gillies and Alex Thiele to create a robot that removes metal so the wood can be reused, and a company to commercialize it. The result is Urban Machine.

Join us as we dive into the intersection of robotics, construction, and sustainability. Eric and his team are using technology behind the headlines—artificial intelligence, computer vision, machine learning, etc.—to economically do the dirty job of removing nails, screws, and fasteners, so the lumber can reenter the market and stay out of the incinerator or landfill.

Eric Law: Lumber, Robotics, Innovation, Sustainability | Turn the Lens with Jeff Frick Ep31

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxx8g-YHDqU&list=PLZURvMqWbYjk4hbmcR46tNDdXQlrVZgEn

Transcript and show notes - https://www.turnthelenspodcast.com/episode/eric-law-lumber-robotics-innovation-sustainability-turn-the-lens-with-jeff-frick-ep31

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