Defective or worn-out hard disk drives usually contain plenty of valuable data recorded on them. But they are also comprised of valuable materials, such as aluminum platters, neodymium magnets, and a stainless steel chassis, just to name a few. So, instead of shredding them to destroy the data, Microsoft invented robots that disassemble them, potentially by the millions, to recycle those valuable materials, reports Blocks & Files.
At the 2022 Global Hackathon, a team led by Ranganathan Srikanth created robots that dismantle hard drives, destroy data by destroying platters, and recycle the remaining parts to extract valuable materials, avoiding the current practice of shredding entire hard drives. The robotic system uses computer vision to recognize different HDD types and locate screws for disassembly. It carefully removes components, destroying only the data-carrying platters, while salvaging parts like magnets and printed circuit boards for reuse.
