Apple introduced their Intelligent Salvaging Robot 'Liam" in 2016 and their secondary robot " Daisy in 2018 as presented in the Apple video below (that takes 11 seconds to load).

Yesterday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a patent application from Microsoft that's out to follows Apple's recycling project. The patent is titled "Computerized Demanufacturing System."

Microsoft notes that in many cases, when an electronic device reaches its end of life, it is destroyed and/or otherwise disposed of, leaving little to no opportunity for reuse or recycling. This is applicable to devices such as hard drives, which are used in large numbers in computer data centers and are replaced over time as they age, as well as consumer devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops.

Microsoft's patent is generally directed to techniques for automated disassembly (also referred to as “demanufacturing”) of electronic devices. According to the techniques described, electronic devices are automatically disassembled into one or more subcomponents, at least some of which can be recycled and/or directly reused in construction of a new device. This promotes environmental sustainability by reducing consumption of raw' materials and can additionally contribute to cost savings.

In general, the demanufacturing techniques are described as being performed by a computerized demanufacturing system. This includes at least one robotic disassembly agent. In some examples, the computerized demanufacturing system includes multiple robotic disassembly agents, each of which may have the same or different capabilities.

A robotic disassembly agent uses various effectors (e.g., tools such as screwdrivers, clamps, suction cups, desoldering tools) to manipulate various interactable elements of an electronic device to carry out a sequence of one or more disassembly steps. In some examples, multiple different disassembly sequences are applied to the same electronic device by the same and/or different robotic disassembly agents.

Microsoft's patent  FIG. 1 schematically illustrates example robotic disassembly agents of a computerized demanufacturing system; FIG. 3 schematically illustrates categorization of a target electronic device.

Microsoft's patent FIG. 6 above illustrates examples of disassembly sequence iteration. Specifically, FIG. 6 illustrates three different disassembly sequences, including sequences 600A, 600B, and 600C. As shown, each disassembly sequence includes a series of disassembly steps, two of which are labeled as disassembly steps 602A and 602B.

For full details, review Microsoft's patent application 20240391038.