Handling and Sorting delicate objects using Acoustophoresis

Sorting on conveyor belts is a fundamental process across industries, ensuring efficiency and quality in pharmaceutical labs, recycling, and agriculture. In agriculture, precision seed sorting is critical, driving a €2.9B global market growing at 4.5% CAGR through 2030. However, current pneumatic sorters are high-maintenance and costly, gravity sorters lack precision for similar-density seeds, and robotic pick-and-place systems, though precise, are too slow and expensive for industrial-scale operations.AcoustoFab is introducing a step-change in sorting technology through its patented ultrasonic phased array transducer system, which uses precisely controlled sound waves to manipulate and eject seeds from a conveyor belt. Unlike traditional methods, this high-speed, contactless approach enables multi-category sorting, eliminates mechanical wear, and reduces operational costs. Originally developed under the ERC Advanced Grant “Interfaces” for interactive media applications, our acoustic manipulation technology has unexpectedly revealed a high-impact opportunity in AgriTech, unlocking new levels of precision and efficiency in seed sorting.Rising global food demand, climate change-driven variability in seed quality, and increasing sustainability regulations make high-precision, low-waste sorting solutions more critical than ever. This proof-of-concept funding will allow us to advance and benchmark our technology against seed industry KPIs, validating its speed, accuracy, and efficiency while developing prototypes that demonstrate industry feasibility and commercial potential.Beyond agriculture, our contactless sorting technology can revolutionize high-purity metal recovery in recycling, such as copper extraction from solar panels, enhancing efficiency and reducing waste. Leveraging acoustic manipulation, AcoustoFab is therefore on a mission to pioneer a more scalable, sustainable, and intelligent approach to industrial automation.