Watch UK’s first AI-powered LEGO sorting machine - capable of handling 40,000 pieces a day - in action
WeBuyBricks has unveiled the UK’s first AI-powered machine capable of sorting mixed LEGO bricks into sets.
Fascinating video shows the UK’s first AI-powered LEGO sorting machine in action - which is already saving millions of bricks from landfill.
The Wonka-style Brick-O-Matic uses custom conveyor belts, cameras, air jets and AI to sort mixed LEGO bricks into sets at a speed no human could ever match.
The WeBuyBricks super machine - located in the company’s warehouse in Rawtenstall, Lancashire - instantly identifies each part from more than 55,000 possibilities, sorts by colour and shape, and even reports how complete the set is.
It’s believed to be the first commercially viable machine of its kind in the UK, and one of only three in the world.
Around 80% of toys end up in landfill, but LEGO bricks are built to last, which is why WeBuyBricks spent four years developing an innovative way to rescue, reuse and resell it at scale.
The Brick-O-Matic can sort around 40,000 pieces a day, a job that used to take humans 100 times longer, giving incomplete sets a second life and preventing millions of bricks from being thrown away into landfill. The bricks are also washed and any damaged pieces removed.
Attic LEGO sets can now be turned into instant cash, and buying a pre-loved set is often 40% cheaper than buying a new one.
Mike Lane, WeBuyBricks CEO, said: “Millions of plastic toys end up in landfill every year and LEGO bricks are made from one of the most durable plastics on the planet, it can sit in the ground for centuries.
“Everyone has a box of LEGO bricks somewhere, and instead of it being thrown away, this machine means we can rescue more bricks than ever, rebuild complete sets, stop perfectly good plastic becoming waste and offer pre-loved LEGO sets at a much-reduced price.”
WeBuyBricks offers free postage or home collection and next day payment by bank transfer or PayPal. Their app lets users scan a LEGO set for an instant price, or send mixed bricks by weight for the Brick-O-Matic to process. The cleaned and sorted sets are available to buy on the website.