I wonder if Unholy Strength reprograms it into the Devil or something.
I think most of us remember a time where we played a bit of Magic: The Gathering. And, even today, some of those cards are still worth a lot. Which means that there’s a thriving retail aftermarket that has to go through vast numbers of cards, sorting and pricing them.
And that’s where Sorting Robotics’ “Roca” comes in. See, if you’re a game store or comic book shop, you’re going to have a large and ever growing stock of the popular TCG’s, like Magic: The Gathering. And thumbing through a thousand cards, looking up their prices as you go, is a massive timesink that takes your employees away from being productive in other ways. Sorting Robotics has built a robot to do all of that for you.
Using a combination of cameras and sensors, as well as a robotic arm, the robot will sort and price through a stack of 1000 card in 1-2 hours. And it can sort them however you like; by type, price, alphabetical order, set Pretty much any criteria you could think of can be met. Even better is the fact that it’ll make a spreadsheet of everything sorted that session. Think of it like the super-evolved version of those mechanized sorting coin banks.
Moreover, Sorting Robotics didn’t just make any arm for this thing. Not only did they make sure cards have the least chance of sticking together through the use of internal air flow. They also made sure that the mechanism by which the robot picks up the cards does so in a way that won’t damage the cards. After all, some of these things sell for hundreds, even thousands of dollars. The pneumatic arm utilizes polished surfaces, cameras, computer vision, and silicone suction cups to make sure
And even if a card does get damaged, Sorting Robots has said they’ll cover the cost of that card. That said, they’ll want to review video from the internal cameras to make sure their tech was at fault, so no funny business.
They’ve also spent some research time on working around dust. Cards can accumulate a shocking amount of dirt from players hands, sitting idle, and even from their original manufacture. Considering the amount of cameras and sensors the robot has, this is important. Later models have been adjusted to better manage dust and dirt, and make servicing the mechanisms more manageable.
As for price? Well, this is meant more for store owners than your average collector or player. And the company works with these stores and online resellers on a case-by-case basis. And even though the robot only works with Magic: The Gathering cards right now, the near future will see the implementation of sorting for Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.
Source: TechCrunch
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