Last December, Dell announced Concept Luna, a new initiative to create sustainable and easy-to-repair PCs. And while the concept was just that, a concept, today Dell shared more details on the project’s evolution and how it can disassemble a laptop in a matter of minutes before recycling parts.
The initial concept was unique, aiming to build a PC or laptop with no glue, fewer solder points, or even screws to make a device that’s long-lived, easy to fix, and even easier to take apart and recycle as necessary. The goal is sustainable devices, materials, and recycling.
A big part of the project is to harvest individual components of a device rather than just discarding or throwing away old and used electronics. Pulling individual parts that still have a shelf-life and giving them a second or third life will go a long way in the battle against e-waste.
Over the past year, Dell’s Experience Innovation Group of engineers has worked tirelessly on the project and refined Concept Luna’s modular design. Today, Dell confirmed it completely eliminated the need for adhesives or cables in the PC, vastly reduced the use of screws, and built an entire “micro-factory” to disassemble Luna.
As a result, Luna is one step closer to reality. Instead of taking upwards of an hour to disassemble all the glue, screws, and adhesives on a device, the Luna team and micro-factory can complete the job in minutes.
Then, thanks to smart telemetry and robotics, the system can diagnose individual system components and their health during the recycling process to ensure nothing goes to waste. If something is reusable, it’ll get reused. Combine this with efforts in the right-to-repair movement, and things look promising.
That said, Dell didn’t make any mention of consumer-repairability or spare parts being available for users. Instead, it focuses on the inner side of things.
When you think about the millions of tech devices sold each year, being able to minimize waste and manufacture more sustainable and modular devices could have a massive impact on e-waste and the production of raw materials.
Dell says that Luna is still “just a concept” right now, but the long-term goal could one day make a huge impact.
Source: Dell Technologies
