Pilot program to test the potential of autonomous robots for picking up food waste for compost in Corktown

What is going on: Last month we told you that a garbage robot would be searching Belle Isle Beach for litter this summer. Now another mobility pilot program will soon deploy an autonomous robot in Corktown to collect food waste for compost.

Who is behind it: Atlanta-based technology accelerator Orange Sparkle Ball has received funding from the Michigan Mobility Funding Platform to build an Autonomous Robotic Pickup Platform in Detroit. The company is planning a series of pilot programs in Corktown’s Transportation Innovation Zone using autonomous robotic technology to pick up ‘end-of-life materials’, starting with the food waste pilot.

What is planned: The first pilot program will partner California-based autonomous robotics startup Ottonomy with Scrap Soils, a Detroit-based composting startup, and urban farm Brother Nature in Corktown. The pilot program collects household and commercial food waste in Corktown, which is then composted. Orange Sparkle Ball plans to launch additional pilot programs in 2024, partnering autonomous technologies with local companies to further explore the technology’s ability to pick up “end-of-life materials” and fill gaps in city infrastructure .

How it happens: Orange Sparkle Ball receives funding from the Michigan Mobility Funding Platform (MMFP), which is itself managed by the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification (OFME). The state office launched MMFP to attract mobility and electrification companies to Michigan. The City of Detroit’s “first of its kind” innovation, the City Office of Mobility Innovation’s Transportation Innovation Zone, will allow companies to accelerate mobility pilot programs in the Corktown neighborhood, itself a culmination of Ford’s mobility-focused Michigan Central campus.

Why it’s important: “The use of this pickup technology is currently under investigation and we are excited to explore the expanded use of autonomous robotic technology. Additionally, as a Michigander, I am extremely proud to be conducting these pilots in Detroit,” said Meaghan. Kennedy, founder of Orange Sparkle Ball.

“The unique expedited permitting process implemented by the City of Detroit in a unique Transportation Innovation Zone and the State of Michigan’s mobility financing platform built to support startups allows us to explore new use cases for mobility in Michigan, partnering with several in Michigan established technology companies and community partners.”

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