It’s been two years since Apple introduced us to its iPhone disassembly robot Liam, and now it’s time to meet the company’s newest bot: Daisy. Apple says Daisy — who you can see in action below — offers “the most efficient way to reclaim more of the valuable materials stored in iPhone” with the robot capable of disassembling and sorting parts from up to 200 iPhones per hour.
Daisy’s introduction is accompanied with Apple adding Earth Day donations through its GiveBack program to the non-profit Conservation International. Apple’s GiveBack program lets customers return old devices to Apple Stores or Apple.com for recycling, and newer devices can even be traded in for Apple Store credit.
Apple says its new iPhone recycler Daisy is actually based on Liam technology (and parts) and can take apart nine different iPhone models:
Apple’s newest disassembly robot, Daisy, is the most efficient way to reclaim more of the valuable materials stored in iPhone. Created through years of R&D, Daisy incorporates revolutionary technology based on Apple’s learnings from Liam, its first disassembly robot launched in 2016.
Daisy is made from some of Liam’s parts and is capable of disassembling nine versions of iPhone and sorting their high-quality components for recycling. Daisy can take apart up to 200 iPhone devices per hour, removing and sorting components, so that Apple can recover materials that traditional recyclers can’t — and at a higher quality.
Daisy, the culmination of five years of research, is a descendant of Liam, which was introduced in March 2016. Liam was three times bigger, about 100 feet long, with 29 robots instead of five. Robots of Liam have been re-purposed for Daisy, which you could view as a sort of auto-cannibalism, or in keeping with the disassembly’s mission of re-use and recycling.
The Daisy project, housed in a secret Austin Apple distribution center, is the only machine of its kind in the world. A second Daisy will go online sometime soon in Breda, Netherlands.
Jackson said that the plan is to bring Daisy online in about 10 locations over the next year, particularly in places where iPhones come and go, Apple’s large distribution centers.
Source: 9to5mac