Sorting apparatus

Abstract

A method of singulating, identifying and sorting modular building toy pieces, blocks or bricks (P), comprises: placing a plurality of toy pieces into a feed system 10 operable to output a single toy p

Description

Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of singulating, identifying and sorting modular building toy pieces. Particularly, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to an apparatus for identifying and sorting modular building toy pieces. Background to the Invention Modular building toys are extremely popular type of toy. Such toys are usually sold in sets, each set comprising a plurality of modular building toy pieces, with which a user can create a larger structure, either using their imagination, or using building instructions provided with said set. Disassembly and reassembly of already-constructed models are also an option. Examples of such modular building toys include LEGO™, K’nex™, Meccano™, amongst many others. LEGO™ is a well-known and extremely popular example of a modular building toy. There are many varieties of LEGO™ set, in varying shapes, sizes and themes. As such, this mostly requires an enormous number of pieces. Some of these pieces, for a variety of reasons, such as only being manufactured and / or sold in limited quantities, are particularly rare and / or desirable. Examples of known modular building pieces include cuboid ‘bricks’, axles, other geometric or irregular shapes, vehicles, housings and inorganic parts, plates, anthropomorphised body parts (such as heads, and hairpieces) and clothing therefor. For LEGO™, the anthropomorphised pieces usually form individual figures, known as ‘minifigs’, who are often characters from popular media. Conventionally, LEGO™ is sold in ‘sets’, which form a part of a larger construction centred around a ‘theme’, which consists of a plurality of sets with a common theme (for example all relating to a specific media franchise). There is a particularly strong second-hand market for LEGO™, with these rare pieces attracting high sale prices on the second hand market. Older and rarer minifigs have a particularly strong second hand market. However, this comes with the complication that many LEGO™ pieces are not particularly valuable, and so many owners of LEGO™ who are not interested in nor aware of the value of some pieces often sell LEGO™ in bulk. Sets have varying value, too, so some rare sets have an associated high value, whilst others have a comparatively lower value. Due to the strong second hand market for LEGO™, many people and businesses are built upon obtaining LEGO™ in bulk or incomplete, opened and used sets, sorting the LEGO™ obtained, creating new sets, re-establishing sets with missing components and reselling this to customers, either in bulk or selling specific, high value pieces (typically minifigs and pieces from rarer sets) to collectors. However, sorting any significant amount of LEGO™ manually is very labour intensive. Further, as many LEGO™ pieces are small, this also requires significant focus from any sorters, and which can lead to identification mistakes being made over time. Therefore, people and businesses have sought to automate the sorting and identifying process. There are also issues with counterfeit pieces being produced, damaged pieces or pieces belonging to other modular building toys being included in any bulk bought LEGO™. It is an object of the present invention to overcome or at least alleviate some of these known issues with known modular building toy pieces sorting and / or identification apparatuses. Summary of the Invention According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a method of singulating, identifying and sorting modular building toy pieces, the method comprising: placing a plurality of modular building toy pieces into a feed system operable to output a single modular building toy piece at a time onto a first identifying conveyor, the feed system comprising: a hopper directing the plurality of modular building toy pieces along one of a plurality of feed paths, each feed path comprising a plurality of selectively activated, cascading oscillating separators, wherein activating the oscillating separators singulates the modular building toy pieces, each feed path further comprising a feed conveyor that conveys the singulated modular building toy pieces towards the first identifying conveyor; conveying each modular building toy piece on at least two identifying conveyors, each identifying conveyor having an identification apparatus positioned along the identifying conveyor, the identifying conveyors having a vertical displacement between the first identifying conveyor and a second identifying conveyor that causes each modular building toy piece to change orientation, between the first identifying conveyor and the second identifying conveyor, from a first orientation to a second orientation; identifying each modular building toy piece using said identification apparatuses, each identification apparatus comprising a camera array comprising a plurality of cameras arranged in different orientations, wherein the camera arrays are activated to photograph each modular building toy piece in each of the firstand second orientations, and identifying each modular building toy piece based upon an output of the first and second camera arrays being compared to a database of modular building toy pieces; and transferring each modular building toy piece to an outward conveyor, and conveying each modular building toy piece to a destination via the outward conveyor, the destination being determined based upon the identity of the modular building toy piece and a sorting command. Modular building toy piece type refers to a specific, single variety of modular building toy piece. Type is not intended to refer to a range of different modular building toy pieces (e.g. a genus of modular building toy pieces being blocks, for example). The method may comprise assigning a unique identifier to each modular building toy piece type. The method may further comprise a training step. The training step may comprise determining a new modular building toy piece type not present in the database, and adding the new modular building toy piece type to the database. Adding the new modular building toy piece to the database may comprise photographing the new modular building toy piece and assigning a unique identifier to the new modular building toy piece. For each feed path, the cascading oscillating separators may oscillate at different frequencies. The method may further comprise a plurality of sensors for detecting a modular building toy piece. The plurality of sensors may comprise a plurality of distance sensors (e.g. infrared). A modular building toy piece detection sensor is associated with each oscillating separator. Each oscillating separator may be activated based upon an output from the associated modular building toy piece detection sensor. Placing a plurality of modular building toy pieces into the feed system may comprises raising the plurality of modular building toy pieces using a lift conveyor. The plurality of modular building toy pieces may be dropped into the hopper by the lift conveyor. Each camera array may comprise five or more cameras, four cameras taking photographs from above the identifying conveyor in different directions, and one camera taking a photograph across the identifying conveyor. The destination may comprise one of 10 or more, preferably 20 or more, more preferably 50 or more different destinations. The destination may comprise a receptacle from a plurality of different receptacles. The conveying each modular building toy piece to a destination via the outward conveyor may further comprise using a jet of compressed air to urge the each modular building toy piece off the outward conveyor and into the destination, the destination optionally comprising a receptacle. Identifying each modular building toy piece may comprise classifying the each modular building toy piece into one or more of the following categories: i) two or more modular building toy pieces detected; ii) damaged modular building toy piece detected; or iii) new modular building toy piece type detected. The sorting command may comprise sorting modular building toy pieces according to one or more of: i) colour; ii) theme; iii) brand; iv) genus; v) shape; or vi) associated set. According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for sorting and identifying modular building toy pieces, comprising a feed system operable to receive bulk modular building toy pieces and output a single modular building toy piece at a time, at least two conveyors on which the modular building toy pieces travel, a first conveyor being arranged such that there is a vertical displacement between the first conveyor and a second conveyor and pieces on the first conveyor are transferred to the second conveyor, an identification apparatus positioned above each conveyor operable to identify the modular building toy pieces on said conveyors, and an outward conveyor operable to convey each modular building toy piece to a destination. According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of sorting and identifying modular building toy pieces, the method comprising: placing a plurality of modular building toy pieces into a feed system operable to output a single modular building toy piece at a time onto a first conveyor, conveying each modular building toy piece on at least two conveyors, each conveyor having an identification apparatus positioned above the conveyor, the conveyors having a vertical displacement between the first conveyor and a second conveyor, identifying each modular building toy piece using said identification apparatuses, transferring each modular building toy piece to an outward conveyor, and conveying each modular building toy piece to a destination via the outward conveyor. Use of at least two conveyors having a vertical displacement therebetween allows for the modular building toy pieces which leave the first conveyor to ‘tumble’ therefrom, which provides a changed orientation of piece in relation to the conveyor. This enables the second identification apparatus (i.e. the identification apparatus positioned over the second conveyor) to capture a different angle of said modular building toy piece when compared to the first identification apparatus (i.e. the identification apparatus positioned over the first conveyor). In this manner, the two identification apparatuses can together more accurately identify each modular building toy piece. The modular building toy pieces may be pieces of LEGO™, K’nex™, Meccano™ modular building toys, or pieces of any other suitable modular building toy, as will be understood by the skilled person. It may be the case that modular building toy pieces from different brands of modular building toy are sorted and / or identified concurrently. The modular building toy pieces may comprise any possible type of modular building toy pieces, for example including conventional bricks and minifigs. Alternatively, the modular building toy pieces may be pre-sorted into general size ranges, piece type (bricks or minifigs only), to any suitable sorting type. Each conveyor (whether first, second or outward) may comprise a conventional conveyor belt. Each conveyor may be between 1 and 9 metres long. The conveyors may each have different lengths. Preferably, each of the first and second conveyors may be approximately 1.9 metres long, and the outward conveyor is approximately 7 metres long. Each conveyor may be between 20 and 31 centimetres wide. Preferably, each conveyor may be approximately 30 centimetres wide. Each conveyor may operate at the substantially same speed. Each conveyor may operate between 0.25 and 0.45 m / s. Preferably, each conveyor may operate at approximately 0.42 m / s. The conveyors may each operate at different speeds. The first conveyor may operate between 0.25 and 0.41 m / s. In a particular embodiment, the first conveyor may operate at 0.42 m / s. The second conveyor may operate between 0.4 and 0.45 m / s. In a particular embodiment, the first conveyor may operate at 0.42 m / s. The outward conveyor may operate between 0.4 and 0.45 m / s. In a particular embodiment, the first conveyor may operate at 0.42 m / s. Each conveyor may comprise sections into which a single modular building toy piece is received. This enables each modular building toy piece to be dealt with separately, to avoid mixing up, incorrect identification and / or handling of each modular building toy piece. In one embodiment, each section of each conveyor may be defined as the area between multiple dividing walls (e.g. cleats) of the conveyor. The dividing walls may extend perpendicularly away from the surface of the conveyor. The dividing walls may extend across the surface of the conveyor perpendicular to the direction of travel of the conveyor. A conveyor comprising such dividing walls may otherwise be described as a cleated belt. In another embodiment, each section is formed by a recess formed into the conveyor. The first conveyor may operate at such a speed that the modular building toy pieces output from the feed system are equally spaced apart upon the conveyors. In embodiments where one or more conveyor is divided into sections, the speed of the relevant conveyor may be such that one modular building toy piece is received from the feed system in each section of the conveyor. The speed of the conveyors may be tuned so as to match the rate at which the identification apparatuses can identify the modular building toy pieces. Alternatively, the rate at which the identification apparatus identifies the modular building toy pieces and the speed of the conveyors may be dictated by the rate at which the feed system outputs modular building toy pieces. The surface of each conveyor may have one or more surface adaptations to allow the surface to better grip the modular building toy pieces placed thereon. This prevents, or at least reduces the prospect of modular building toy pieces (particularly pieces such as wheels and axles, which are susceptible to rolling) from falling off of each conveyor. The surface adaptations and / or cleats may be in the form of inset and / or protruding gripping elements including but not limited to grooves, ridges, dimples, pimples and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the surface of the conveyor could be formed from or surface coated with a suitable high friction material, such as rubber or the like. The first conveyor may be configured to drop each modular building toy piece onto the second conveyor. The vertical displacement between the first and second conveyor may be between 30 and 180 mm, more preferably between 75 and 180 mm. In a particular embodiment, this vertical displacement is 80 mm. Each identification apparatus may be operable to take one or more images of each modular building toy piece on the relevant conveyor. Each identification apparatus may comprise one or more cameras arranged to take photographs of the modular building toy piece on the relevant conveyor. Each identification apparatus may comprise a processing unit operable to control the function of each identification apparatus. Alternatively, a common processing unit may be provided so as to control both identification apparatuses. The below passage apply regardless of whether there is a dedicated processing unit for each identification apparatus, or a common processing unit. In particular, any decisions and corresponding control signals made / transmitted by each identification apparatus may be made / transmitted by the processing unit. The or each camera may be connected to the processing unit. The processing unit may be operable to identify the imaged modular building toy pieces based upon the images captured by the or each camera. Together, the identification apparatuses may be able to determine the type of each modular building toy piece imaged by said identification apparatuses. The type of each modular building toy piece may be determined by its shape, size, colour theme, stickers or other decals, or set of each modular building toy piece (and / or any combination thereof). Together, the identification apparatuses may assign a unique identifier to each modular building toy piece type. The unique identifier may comprise information regarding any one or more of the size, shape, colour, theme, and set of the modular building toy piece type. Alternatively, the unique identifier may comprise a sequential code. In such cases, the sequential code may be associated with a descriptive identifier. The apparatus and method also provide for the option that a custom set of unique identifiers could otherwise be used. The identification apparatuses (either alone or in combination) may be able to determine the type of each modular building toy piece using a conventional machine vision (MV) system. The MV system may be operable to determine the type of a modular building toy piece based upon the image / s provided by the one or more cameras. The MV system may be operable to assign an identification confidence level to each identified modular building toy piece. The processing unit may comprise a modular building toy piece database comprising a look-up table of all previously identified modular building toy piece types. The processing unit may be operable to compare the one or more images from the one or more cameras and compare these to one or more reference images of each modular building toy piece type. The database may comprise the unique identifier assigned to each modular building toy piece type. The MV system may be operable to identify the quality of the modular building toy pieces. The MV system may be able to identify when modular building toy pieces are of an unacceptable quality. The MV system may be operable to identify if the colour of a modular building toy piece has faded and / or if the modular building toy piece is blemished. The MV system may be operable to identify if a modular building toy piece is cracked, dented and / or broken. A modular building toy piece type may be defined by reference to any or all of size, shape, colour, theme, genus (e.g. a tyre, window, tree, minifigure [itself made up of multiple constituent parts]) and set. Each modular building toy piece type may be assigned a unique identifier by the processing unit. A modular building toy piece type may be defined by reference to any or all of size, shape, colour, theme, genus and set. This unique identifier may then be assigned to all future modular building toy pieces which are identified as this being of the same type. The unique identifier may comprise information regarding any one or more of the size, shape, colour, theme, and set of the modular building toy piece type. Alternatively, the unique identifier may comprise a sequential code. In such cases, the sequential code may be associated with a descriptive identifier. The processing unit may be operable to make decisions regarding each modular building toy piece depending upon the identified type of each modular building toy piece. The processing unit may be operable to make decisions in the event that the type of a modular building toy piece cannot be identified. The decisions made by the identification apparatus may include deciding the destination of each modular building toy piece. Unidentified modular building toy pieces may be those modular building toy pieces where a threshold identification confidence level is not reached. This threshold may be 95, 99 or 99.9 % confidence. For example, the confidence level is preferably greater than 95%. The second conveyor (or in embodiments, where there are more than two conveyors, the ‘final’ conveyor) may be placed adjacent the outward conveyor, such that pieces are transferred from the second (or ‘final’) conveyor to the outward conveyor. One or more rejection actuators may be provided adjacent the outward conveyor. The or each rejection actuator may be operable to remove certain modular building toy pieces from the outward conveyor. The or each rejection actuator may be operable to remove specific modular building toy pieces from the outward conveyor in response to a control signal from the processing unit. The processing unit may control the rejection actuator so as to remove unidentified or rejected modular building toy pieces from the outward conveyor. Identified modular building toy pieces may be rejected if they are of an unacceptable quality. A modular building toy piece may be of unacceptable quality if its colour has faded and / or the modular building toy piece is blemished beyond an acceptable level. Identified modular building toy pieces may be rejected if they are cracked, dented and / or broken. The or each rejection actuator may comprise a compressed air blower operable to blow individual modular building toy pieces off the outward conveyor. Alternatively, the or each rejection actuator may comprise a pushing element operable to push individual modular building toy pieces off the outward conveyor. The or each rejection actuator may be aligned with a corresponding rejection receptacle. Any modular building toy pieces in the or each rejection receptacle can then be manually discarded. The conveyor and / or outward conveyor may be each provided with a return mechanism. The return mechanism may be operable to return pieces from the conveyor and / or outward conveyor to the feed system. The return mechanism may comprise a funnelling structure placed either side of the conveyor and / or outward conveyor, to guide modular building toy pieces to a return conveyor. The return conveyor may return unidentified modular building toy pieces to the feed system. Alternatively, there may be a dedicated rejection actuator and rejection receptacle for unidentified pieces. These pieces can then either be manually identified and / or returned to the feed system (in an attempt to re-identify them as above). One or more output actuators may be provided adjacent the outward conveyor. The or each output actuator may comprise a compressed air blower operable to blow individual modular building toy pieces off the outward conveyor. Where a compressed air blower is used, the outward conveyor preferably forms part of a closed system (e.g. comprises a lid). This has been found to improve the accuracy, and reliability, of displacing the modular building toy pieces. Alternatively, the or each output actuator may comprise a pushing element operable to push individual modular building toy pieces off the outward conveyor. The or each output actuator may be operable to remove specific modular building toy pieces from the outward conveyor in response to a control signal from the processing unit. The or each output actuator may be aligned with a corresponding modular building toy piece receptacle. The one or more modular building toy piece receptacles may be placed adjacent to the outward conveyor. The or each modular building toy piece receptacle may be configured to receive the modular building toy pieces removed from the outward conveyor by the or each output actuator. The modular building toy piece receptacle into which each identified modular building toy piece is placed may depend upon the identity of each modular building toy piece. This allows for the collection of like modular building toy pieces in each receptacle. The processing unit may be operable to determine the relevant modular building toy piece receptacle for each identified modular building toy piece and control the relevant output actuator with a control signal such that the modular building toy piece is moved to the correct modular building toy piece receptacle. The modular building toy piece receptacles may be assigned to received specific types, size, colours of modular building toy piece or the like. Additionally or alternatively, the modular building toy piece receptacles may be assigned such that all pieces from a specific set are moved to a single modular building toy piece receptacle. The method of the second aspect may include a pre-sorting stage. The presorting stage may comprise removal of any modular building toy pieces which are outliers. The removed outliers may be outliers in terms of size, shape or the like. The method may comprise re-sorting and identifying previously sorted and identified modular building toy pieces. In such cases, the initial sort and identification may comprise sorting the modular building toy pieces by colour, and a subsequent sort and identification may comprise sorting the colour sorted modular building toy pieces by shape. It will be appreciated that said consecutive sorting and identification methods may be performed using any combination of size, shape, colour, theme, genus and set as desired or as required. The method may comprise assigning a unique identifier to each modular building toy piece type. This unique identifier may then be assigned to all future modular building toy pieces which are identified as this being of the same type. The method may comprise a training step used to assign unique identifiers to modular building toy piece types which have not previously been assigned a unique identifier. The method may comprise a pre-identification stage, such that any pieces not identified in the pre-identification stage are then subject to the training step to assign a unique identifier to the unidentified modular building toy piece type. The apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention may be operable to perform any optional features of the method of the second aspect, as desired or as required. Detailed Description of the Invention In order that the invention may be more clearly understood one or more embodiments thereof will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Figure 1 is a diagram showing a sorting and identifying apparatus according to the present invention. Figure 2 is a block diagram showing a control apparatus suitable for controlling an apparatus according to the present invention. Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an example sorting and identifying apparatus according to the present invention. Figure 4 is a block diagram showing a sorting and identification method according to the present invention. Figure 5a is a plan view of an apparatus for singulating, identifying and sorting modular building toy pieces according to another embodiment. Figure 5b is a side view of the apparatus shown in Figure 5a. Figure 6a is a plan view of part of the feed system of the apparatus shown in Figures 5a, 5b. Figure 6b is a side view of the part of the feed system shown in Figure 6a. Figure 7 is a section view through a hopper shown in Figures 6a, 6b. Figure 8 is a perspective view of a different part of the feed system shown in Figures 5a, 5b. Figure 9 schematically indicates operative connections between various elements of the apparatus shown in Figures 5a to 8. Figure 10 schematically illustrated a method of singulating, identifying and sorting modular building toy pieces according to the invention. Turning to figures 1 and 3, there is provided an exemplary apparatus 1 for sorting and identifying modular building toy pieces P. Here, the modular building toy pieces P have a variety of sizes and shapes. In this exemplary embodiment, the modular building toy pieces P being sorted and identified are LEGO™, though it will be understood that any brand of modular building toy piece could be sorted and / or identified. The apparatus 1 comprises a feed system 10 operable to receive modular building toy pieces P in bulk. In this exemplary embodiment, the feed system 10 is operable to receive a volume of 0.2 m3of LEGO™. In this embodiment, the feed system 10 comprises a hopper (not shown) operable to receive modular building toy pieces P in bulk, and pass these onto a conventional lift conveyor (not shown). The lift conveyor transports modular building toy pieces P upwards to the top of the lift conveyor. When the pieces P reach the top, they fall therefrom onto a pair of chutes (not shown), which convey said pieces P to a respective pair of linear feeders (not shown). This process enables the feed system to separate the pieces P, to allow better singulation of pieces P by the conveyors 11,12. In other embodiments, where the conveyors operate at a lower speed, a single linear feeder could otherwise be used. At the output of the feed system 10, there is disposed a first conveyor 11. The first conveyor 11 is a conventional conveyor and is fitted with a conventional rubber conveyor belt. The modular building toy pieces P that reach the end of the first conveyor 11 are dropped onto a second conveyor 12. The second conveyor 12 is a conventional conveyor and is fitted with a conventional rubber conveyor belt. The vertical displacement between the forts and second conveyors 11,12 allows for the modular building toy pieces P which leave the first conveyor 11 to ‘tumble’ therefrom, which provides a changed orientation of piece in relation to the conveyors 11,12. This enables the identification apparatus 20 over the second conveyor 12 to capture a different angle of said modular building toy piece P when compared to the identification apparatus 20 over the first conveyor 11. The two identification apparatuses 20 can together more accurately identify each modular building toy piece P. Situated above each conveyor 11,12 is an identification apparatus 20. The identification apparatus 20 has three cameras 21,22,23 which are each placed such that the camera 21,22,23 are able to take an image of any modular building toy piece P which travels on each conveyor 11,12. The images taken by the cameras 21,22,23 are then processed by a processing unit 24. The processing unit 24 is common to both identification apparatus 20 operable to identify each modular building toy piece P on the conveyors 11,12. The processing unit 24 is operable to analyse the images taken by the cameras 21,22,23 and assign each modular building toy piece P a unique identifier according to the identified type of each modular building toy piece P. The processing unit 24 is connected to a database 25 which holds the unique identifiers for each type of modular building toy piece P. The modular building toy pieces P that reach the end of the second conveyor 12 are dropped onto an outward conveyor 13. The outward conveyor 13 is also conventional conveyor and is fitted with a conventional rubber conveyor belt. The modular building toy pieces P on the outward conveyor 13 are conveyed to a destination as required. In the exemplary embodiment of figures 1c, 2 and 3, the modular building toy pieces P have three possible destinations. It will be understood that in practice there could be more than three destinations, as required by the circumstances. In this exemplary embodiment, a rejection actuator 14 is placed adjacent the outward conveyor 13. The rejection actuator 14 is operable to blow a jet of compressed air upon receipt of an appropriate control signal from the processing unit 24. The rejection actuator 14 is thus able to blow certain modular building toy pieces P off the outward conveyor 13. In this manner, the destination of each modular building toy piece 1 is decided by the processing unit 24. A rejection receptacle 15 may be placed adjacent the outward conveyor 13 on the opposite side of the outward conveyor 13 to the rejection actuator 14. This allows the rejection actuator 14 to blow rejected modular building toy pieces P off the outward conveyor 13 and into the rejection receptacle 15. In this embodiment, the rejection receptacle 15 is a conventional storage bin. When the rejection receptacle 15 is full, it can be manually emptied, and the rejected modular building toy pieces P are thus discarded. In this embodiment, modular building toy pieces P are rejected if they are cracked, broken, dented, faded and / or blemished beyond an acceptable level. For non-rejected modular building toy pieces P, the rejection actuator 14 does not receive an activation signal from the processing unit 24, and the modular building toy pieces P thus proceed to move along the outward conveyor 13. A pair of output actuators 16,17 are placed further along the outward conveyor 13, adjacent to the outward conveyor 13 in the same manner as the rejection actuator 14. Each output actuator is identical to the rejection actuator 14 as discussed above, and each output actuator is connected to the processing unit 24 in the same manner as the rejection actuator 14. A pair of receptacles 18,19 are placed on the opposite side of the outward conveyor 13 to the output actuators 16,17 to receive the modular building toy pieces P blown off the outward conveyor 13 by the output actuators 18,19. By the selective control of the output actuators 16,17, the processing unit 24 can therefore determine the destination of the identified modular building toy pieces P. For example, all modular building toy pieces P which are identified as being a specific colour (for example yellow) can be sorted into one receptacle 18, whilst all other (nonrejected) modular building toy pieces P can be sorted into the other receptacle 19. It will be understood that the above use of the colour yellow is entirely illustrative, and that any combination of identifiable features of the modular building toy pieces P (such as size, shape, genus, theme or set) could be used as a basis for sorting. Turning to figure 4, there is shown an exemplary method 101 for sorting and identifying modular building toy pieces P. This method 101 is suitable for being carried out upon the sorting and identifying apparatus 1 discussed above, and shown in figures 1 and 3 (with reference numerals below being directed to the components of said apparatus 1 as appropriate). As a first step 110, bulk modular building toy pieces P are manually placed into a feed system 10. The feed system 10 (as discussed above) then serves to output a single piece at a time (step 111) onto a first conveyor 11. Ina subsequent step 112, the identification apparatus 20 positioned above the first conveyor 11 images the modular building toy piece P on the first conveyor 11 using the cameras 21,22,23, whilst the first conveyor 11 conveys the modular building toy pieces P toward the second conveyor 12. The first conveyor 12 then drops the modular building toy piece P onto the second conveyor 12 (step 113). The identification apparatus 20 positioned above the second conveyor 12 images the modular building toy piece P on the second conveyor 12 using the cameras 21,22,23 (step 114) whilst the second conveyor 12 conveys the modular building toy pieces P to the outward conveyor 13 and drops said piece P onto the outward conveyor 13 (step 115). The images are communicated to a processing unit 24, which analyses the images and identifies the relevant modular building toy piece P and assigns the modular building toy piece P a unique identifier accordingly (step 115). Once the modular building toy piece P is identified, the processing unit 24 then determines the destination of each modular building toy piece P (step 116). The one or more actuators 14,16,17 are then controlled by the processing unit 24 such that each piece is transferred to an appropriate receptacle 15,18,19 (final step 117). In the event that the processing unit 24 determines a modular building toy piece P is to be rejected, then the rejection actuator 14 is activated as the modular building toy piece P passes the rejection actuator 14, so as to blow the modular building toy piece P into the rejection receptacle 15. In the event that the processing unit 24 determines a modular building toy piece P is to be transferred to a specific receptacle 18,19 then the corresponding actuator 16,17 is activated as the modular building toy piece P passes the relevant actuator 16,17 so as to blow the modular building toy piece 1 into the desired receptacle 18,19. To use the illustrative example provided above, the processing unit 24 may be programmed such that all yellow modular building toy pieces are assigned to one receptacle 18, and all other colours are to be assigned to another receptacle 19. In this example, the relevant actuator 16 is activated as any modular building toy pieces P which are identified by the processing unit 24 as being yellow are blown into the relevant receptacle 18. The processing unit 24 does not activate the actuator 16 when any non-yellow modular building toy pieces P are passing the actuator 16, so as to avoid transferring non-yellow modular building toy pieces P into the ‘yellow’ receptacle 18. These non-yellow modular building toy pieces P are then subsequently blown into the ‘non-yellow’ receptacle 19 as they pass the relevant actuator 17. With reference to the illustrative examples provided above, it will be understood that significantly more complex sorting and identification can be performed, for example by looking for more than one feature (for example sorting by colour, shape and size concurrently, or by providing more receptacles, to allow more sophisticated sorting of pieces) can be performed using the apparatus and method disclosed above. In a specific embodiment, there are 51 receptacles, one of which is a rejection receptacle, and the remaining 50 being receptacles for modular building toy pieces P having various characteristics, as desired. Turning to Figure 5a, a plan view of an apparatus 200 for singulating, identifying and sorting modular building toy pieces according to another embodiment is provided. A corresponding side view of the same apparatus 200 is shown in Figure 5b. The apparatus 200 shares many features in common with the apparatus 1 described and illustrated in connection with the earlier embodiments. Equally, the method 101 described and illustrated in connection with Figure 4 can be carried out using the apparatus 200. Any of the preceding description, including optional features etc. is therefor equally applicable to the following embodiments, where appropriate. The apparatus 200 is for singulating (e.g. separating bulk fed modular [unconnected] building toy pieces into individual modular building toy pieces), identifying and sorting modular building toy pieces. The apparatus 200 comprises a feed system 202, first and second identifying conveyors 204, 206 with associated first and second identification apparatuses 208, 210, and an outward conveyor 212. The first and second identification apparatuses 208, 210 may be referred to as imaging systems. In use, a plurality of modular building toy pieces are placed into an inlet hopper 214 at an inlet end 216 of the apparatus 200. The pieces are loaded in a disassembled state (e.g. not connected to one another). The modular building toy pieces are singulated, identified and sorted by the apparatus 200 as they move from the inlet end 216 towards an outlet end 218 (e.g. from the left to the right in Figures 5a and 5b). Inlet hopper 214 forms part of the feed system 202, along with an inlet conveyor 218, lift conveyor 220 and hopper 222. The inlet conveyor 218 conveys the bulk modular building toy pieces from, and through, the inlet hopper 214. From the inlet conveyor 218, the bulk modular building toy pieces are transferred onto the lift conveyor 220. As seen in Figure 5b, the lift conveyor 220 raises (e.g. elevates) the modular building toy pieces. The lift conveyor 220 comprises a plurality of divided sectors (e.g. along its length), divided by projections. In a first of a number of constituent singulation steps, the lift conveyor 220 gathers a subset of the bulk modular building toy pieces in one divided sector (e.g. zone) of the lift conveyor 220. Between the inlet hopper 214 and the lift conveyor 220 a brush 221 is disposed (schematically indicted in cross-hatching in Figure 5a to aid illustration). The brush 221 is preferably a bristled brush. The brush 221 rotates in operation. The brush 221 acts to limit the size of modular building toy pieces that are caught on a divided sector of the lift conveyor 220. Put another way, modular building toy pieces that are too large to fit under the brush 221 (e.g. between the brush 221 and the lift conveyor 220) will not pass along the lift conveyor 220 (and instead remain in the inlet hopper 214). For example, pieces greater than around 100 mm in one dimension. This is desirable because certain bulk modular building toy pieces may be comparatively large, and unsuitable for automatic sorting. The brush 221 also prevents too many modular building toy pieces from entering the lift conveyor 220. In preferred embodiments the inlet conveyor 218 is selectively (e.g. intermittently) activated based upon a reading from a sensor 223. The sensor 223 is one of a number of distance sensors (e.g. infrared), used throughout the apparatus 200, for detecting the presence, and rough volume, of modular building toy pieces. These sensors may otherwise be referred to as modular building toy piece detection sensors. For example, the inlet conveyor 218 may be (selectively) activated when an approximate volume of modular building toy pieces drops below a lower threshold (that volume being detected by the sensor 223). Sensor 223 thus controls a flow of bulk modular toy building pieces. All sensors are connected to a control panel for a relevant conveyor and / or oscillating separator. Each sensor preferably measures distance. If a detected distance to an object (e.g. modular building toy piece) is below a set parameter, the sensor sends a signal indicating a piece is detected. This is used to control the flow of material through the apparatus 200, particularly the feed system 202, At the downstream end (e.g. top) of the lift conveyor 220, the subsets of modular building toy pieces are dropped into a hopper 222. The hopper 222 defines a junction that directs the modular building toy pieces along one of a plurality (two, in this embodiment) feed paths. The direction is controlled by a moveable arm inside the hopper 222 (not visible in Figure 5a or 5b, but visible in Figure 7). The hopper 222 directs the modular building toy pieces along either a first feed path 224 or a second feed path 226 in the illustrated embodiment. The first feed path 224 and second feed path 226 will be described in more detail in connection with Figure 8. Each feed path 224, 226 comprises a plurality of selectively activated cascading oscillating separators 228, 230 and a feed conveyor 232,234. The cascading oscillating separators 228, 230 are activated to further singulate the modular building toy pieces. At the downstream end of the feed conveyors 232, 234, the (singulated) modular building toy pieces are transferred to the first identifying conveyor 204. That is to say, at the point where the modular building toy pieces reach the first identifying conveyor 204, there is only one modular building toy piece per zone (maximum) of the first identifying conveyor 204. It will be appreciated that some zones may be empty. Associated with the first identifying conveyor 204 is the first identifying apparatus 208. The first identifying apparatus 208 comprises a camera array 235 comprising a plurality of cameras arranged in different orientations. The camera array 235 comprises five cameras in the illustrated embodiment: four cameras 236, 238, 240, 242 above the identifying conveyor 204 and one camera 244 along the identifying conveyor 204. As is shown more clearly in Figure 5b, the four cameras 236, 238, 240, 242 are angled, or inclined, with respect to a direction of travel of the first identifying conveyor 204. They are preferably angled at around 45° to vertical. In contrast, the camera 244 (only visible in Figure 5a) is positioned transverse (e.g. perpendicular) to the direction of travel of the first identifying conveyor 204. The camera 244 thus takes a photograph of a side of the modular building toy piece. The (first) camera array 235, specifically the constituent cameras thereof, is activated to photograph each modular building toy piece in a (first) orientation on the first identifying conveyor 204. At a downstream end of the first identifying conveyor 204, the second identifying conveyor 206 is located. Like the preceding embodiments, there is a vertical displacement between the first and second identifying conveyors 204, 206. This vertical displacement causes each modular building toy piece to change orientation as it drops from the first identifying conveyor for the second identifying conveyor 206. Described another way, each modular building toy piece is disposed in a first orientation on the first identifying conveyor 204 and then transitions to a second, different, orientation on the second identifying conveyor 206. This advantageously means that each modular building toy piece can be photographed in two different orientations, from each of the two camera arrays, increasing the chance of being to positively identify the modular building toy piece. The second identifying conveyor 206 has the second identifying apparatus 210 associated with it. The second identifying apparatus 210 shares many features in common with the first identifying apparatus 208, and will therefore not be described in detail. Briefly, the second identifying apparatus 210 comprises a (second) camera array 245, and the camera array 245 comprises five cameras 246, 248, 250, 252, 254 (again, like the first camera array 235). As described in connection with the earlier embodiment, the first and second identifying apparatuses 208, 210 are in operative communication with a processing unit (not shown, labelled 24 in Figure 9). The images from the camera arrays 235, 245 are processed by the processing unit to identify the modular building toy piece. This is by way of the images (e.g. output) of the camera arrays 235, 245 being compared to a database (e.g. a look-up table) of (existing) modular building toy pieces. Returning to Figures 5a and 5b, each modular building toy piece is then transferred to the outward conveyor 212. The outward conveyor 212 conveys each modular building toy piece to a destination. The destination is determined based upon the identity of the modular building toy piece (e.g. as determined based upon an output of the camera arrays 235, 245) and a sorting command. An example of a destination is one of a plurality of receptacles disposed along the outward conveyor 212. In the illustrated embodiment there are ten chutes 256, 258, 260, 262, 264, 266, 268, 270, 272, 274 disposed along the outward conveyor 212, each chute corresponding to a receptacle (not shown, disposed underneath a respective chute in use). The ten chutes / destinations are not limiting, and in other embodiments any number of different chutes (e.g. 20, or more; 50, or more) could otherwise be used. A further receptacle 276 is disposed at an end of the outward conveyor 212. Each modular building toy piece is conveyed at least some way along the outward conveyor 212. Depending upon a sorting command, which will be described in more detail below, most of the modular building toy pieces will be conveyed part way along the outward conveyor 212 until they align with a destination determined based on the identity of the modular building toy piece. When the modular building toy piece aligns with the corresponding chute (e.g. destination) a (sorting) actuator, such as a jet of compressed air, urges the modular building toy piece of the outward conveyor 212 towards (and into) the destination. In the illustrated embodiment this is achieved by using a jet of compressed air to urge the modular building toy piece through the relevant chute and into a receptacle provided thereunder. The receptacle 276 provided at the outward (e.g. downstream) end of the outward conveyor 212 is typically used for modular building toy pieces which are rejected (typically those not recognised). In some embodiments this may correspond to modular building toy pieces for which an existing entry in the database does not exist (e.g. a new type of modular building toy piece). The sorting command (e.g. instruction), upon which the destination of the modular building toy piece is based, may comprise sorting modular building toy pieces according to one or more of: i) colour; ii) theme; iii) brand; iv) genus (e.g. 1x4 blocks, 2x4 blocks, trees, tyres windows etc.); v) shape; or vi) associated set (e.g. identifying a quantity of different types of modular building toy pieces that constitute a [typically boxed] set). The sorting command may comprise sorting modular building toy pieces according to one or more of the following categories: i) two or more modular building toy pieces detected; ii) damaged modular building toy piece detected; or iii) new (untrained) modular building toy piece type detected. The sorting command preferably comprises a plurality of instructions which map various different modular building toy piece types and / or categories to different destinations along the outward conveyor 212. For example, a (first) destination corresponding to (first) chute 256 (in turn corresponding to a receptacle placed under chute 256) may be mapped to two or more modular building toy pieces being detected (e.g. the singulation process has failed). In a further example, a (second) destination corresponding to (second) chute 258 (in turn corresponding to a receptacle placed under chute 258) may be mapped to modular building toy pieces of a certain colour (e.g. blue, green, yellow etc.) being detected. The sorting command may be input by an operator. The sorting command may be input through a graphic user interface (GUI). The GUI may be in operative communication with the processing unit. The sorting command can be modified as needed during operation of the apparatus 200, and therefore provides flexibility in the sorting of modular building toy pieces. For new modular building toy piece types that are detected (e.g. no existing entry in the database), and are directed to receptacle 276, a training step is preferably carried out. The training step comprises adding the new modular building toy piece type to the database. This may comprise an operator placing the new modular building toy piece type on a turntable. A camera array, similar to those described in connection with the first and second identification apparatuses 208, 210, may be associated with a turntable. When activated, the turntable rotates and the camera(s) takes a series of photographs of the modular building toy piece. Strobe lighting is also timed to activate at the same time as the camera shutters. The turntable of the training rig also preferably uses the same material, and colour, as the first and second identifying conveyors 204, 206. This has been found to greatly improve the accuracy of identifying the modular building toy pieces. The images (e.g. photographs) go through a collation process whereby a vector image is created of the building toy piece. The apparatus 200 can then identify what the piece is from any angle, even if a training image has not been taken from that angle. In this regard, the database the vector is compared against may be described as a vector database. An operator can then associate the images with a new record in the database. The record may further comprise a unique identifier, and may comprise associated description (e.g. one or more of: i) colour; ii) theme; iii) brand; iv) genus; v) shape; orvi) associated set). As part of the ‘training’ mentioned above (e.g. adding a new modular building toy piece to the database), minifigures may be dealt in a specific manner. Owing to the value of some minifigures, and the parts of some minifigures (e.g. face, body, helmet, legs, arms, helmet, accessories [e.g. sword]), the minifigure is initially photographed as a whole. Where the minifigure is rare (e.g. as determined by an operator, or as indicated by the database), the constituent parts of the minifigure (e.g. body, helmet, legs, arms, accessories [e.g. sword]) are also photographed (so the apparatus ‘trained’) separately. The constituent parts of minifigures can thus be identified by the apparatus 200 / method, as well as the ‘assembled’ complete minifigure, where appropriate. Advantageously, the apparatus 200 can be used to swiftly, automatically singulate, identify and sort bulk modular building toy pieces as determined by the sorting command. This could be used to, for example, identify broken or damaged modular building toy pieces, create sets from mixed bulk modular building toy pieces (e.g. a number of different sets with constituent piece types mixed in with one another) or to identify particularly valuable modular building toy pieces from bulk, to name just three examples. This is particularly desirable given the difficulties associated with recycling some modular building toy pieces, due to the material type (e.g. ABS). The apparatus 200 therefore facilitates the environmentally friendly reuse of modular building toy pieces. The ability to design and sort entirely custom sets is also afforded by the method and apparatus 200. Turning to Figures 6a and 6b, plan and side views of part of the feed system 202 are provided. In particular, Figures 6a and 6b show the lift conveyor 220 and hopper 222. An inlet end of the lift conveyor 220 is labelled 278, and an outlet end of the lift conveyor 222 is defined by the hopper 222. As previously described, the lift conveyor 222 comprises a plurality of divided sectors (e.g. zones) defined by projections. Two such projections are labelled 280, 282, with a corresponding sector (defined by projections 280, 282) labelled 284. Also disposed proximate the inlet end 278 is the sensor 223. The sensor 223 is a distance sensor which can detect a volume of bulk modular building toy pieces by detecting a distance (from the sensor 223) of an uppermost layer of modular building toy pieces in the direction of the sensor 223. As previously described, sensor 223 is used to selectively activate the inlet conveyor 218 to ‘feed’ the lift conveyor 220 with bulk modular building toy pieces. Lift conveyor 222 carries subsets of the bulk modular building toy pieces, captured between the projections in the corresponding sectors, upwards towards the hopper 222. Turning to Figure 7, a section view through the hopper 222 is provided (as indicated by construction line 288 in Figure 6b). Figure 7 shows the hopper 222 having a single inlet 290, two (branched) outlets 292, 294, and arm 296. Each of the first and second outlets 292, 294 defines an upstream end of the first and second feed paths respectively. The outlets 292, 294 are in selective communication with the single inlet 290 as controlled by the arm 296. The arm 296 is rotatable about a pivot to open and close the outlets 292, 294. The hopper 222, specifically the arm 296 thereof, controls which of the first and second feed paths the subsets of modular building toy pieces delivered to the hopper 222 are sent to (e.g. along). The arm 296 is controlled using an actuator. The arm 296 is controlled based upon a signal from a respective downstream sensor (e.g. a sensor not illustrated in Figure 8, but provided on first oscillating separator 297). When that sensor determines the volume of modular building toy pieces is low (e.g. by sensing a distance to a top layer) it instruct the arm 296 of the hopper 222 to open that outlet 292, 294. The lift conveyor 220 then delivers successive subsets of bulk modular toy building pieces, through that outlet 292, 294, until the same sensor determines enough bulk modular building toy pieces are present on the relevant first oscillating separator (e.g. 297 for outlet 294). At that point, the ‘feeding’ stops. Advantageously the hopper 222, specifically the arm 296 thereof, can thus be used to control an effective ‘flowrate’ of modular building toy pieces down the first and second feed paths. The hopper 222 thus serves to provide a near-even distribution of modular building toy pieces through the first and second flow paths. This can be considered to constitute a second of a number of constituent singulation steps where the initial bulk modular building toy pieces are gradually separated into single pieces. Turning to Figure 8, a perspective view of a different part of the feed system 202 is provided. Figure 8 shows the first and second feed paths 224, 226 from a point downstream of the outlets 292, 294 of the hopper 222 shown in Figure 7. Returning to Figure 8, the first and second feed paths 224, 226 comprise first and second sets of selectively activated, cascading oscillating separators 228, 230. At downstream ends, first and second feed conveyors 232, 234 are disposed. At a downstream end of the first and second feed conveyors, and although not shown in Figure 8, the first identifying conveyor (204 in Figure 5a / b) is disposed. Beginning with the first feed path 224, at an upstream end of the first feed path 224 subsets of modular building toy pieces are deposited (via the hopper) into a first oscillating separator 297 of the first plurality of cascading oscillating separators 228. Each of the oscillating separators may be described as a trough coupled to an actuator. The actuator may be described as vibratory. The separators are driven to oscillate (e.g. vibrate) by respective actuators. The plurality of cascading oscillating separators are so-called because the modular building toy pieces are urged out of an upstream oscillating separator into a downstream oscillating separator in a successive manner. The oscillating separators are cascading owing to the fact that the oscillating separators are positioned at a gradually decreasing height moving from one oscillating separator to a successive oscillating separator. Each oscillating separator is preferably oscillated at a different frequency which facilitates individual modular building toy pieces being singulated (e.g. separated) from the initial subset of modular building toy pieces. Described another way, gaps between successive modular building toy pieces increase as the pieces pass down, or along, the plurality of cascading oscillating separators. The cascading oscillating separators progressively increase the gaps between the modular toy building pieces. Each of the oscillating separators is also preferably selectively activated. That is to say, the oscillating separators are only oscillated intermittently. This facilitates improved control in being able to singulate the modular building toy pieces. Returning to Figure 8, the first plurality of cascading oscillating separators 228 comprises a first oscillating separator 297, a second oscillating separator 298, a third oscillating separator 300 and a fourth oscillating separator 302. First sensor 304 is associated with the first oscillating separator 297, second sensor 306 is associated with the second oscillating separator 298, third and fourth sensors 308, 310 are associated with the third oscillating separator 300, and fifth and sixth sensors 312, 314 are associated with the fourth oscillating separator 302. Like the sensor 223 described in connection with Figures 6a and 6b, each of the first to sixth sensors 304, 306, 308, 310, 312, 314 is preferably a distance sensor (e.g. an infrared distance sensor) that detects the presence of modular building toy pieces. Each of the individual oscillating separators of the first plurality of cascading oscillating separators 228 is preferably activated based upon an output from one of the first to sixth sensors. For example, taking the third oscillating separator 300 as an example, the third oscillating separator 300 may be intermittently activated based upon an output from one or both of the fourth and fifth sensors 310, 312. The sensors may be used to detect the presence, or absence, or a modular building toy piece, with an aim of urging singulated modular building toy pieces onto the first feed conveyor 232. As mentioned above, the first to fourth oscillating separators are preferably operated at different frequencies. From in-situ testing, it has been found that operating the first to fourth oscillating separators such that the separators show velocity readings (measured respectively, moving from first to fourth separators) of the following: 5.1 mm / second, 11.4 mm / second, 19.2 mm / second, 22.3 mm / second achieves a desirable singulation effect. Although not shown in Figure 8, the first feed conveyor 232 preferably comprises a plurality of defined sectors, by projections, in a similar manner to that described in connection with the lift conveyor. A desirable singulation is achieved when (at most) one modular building toy piece is disposed in any given sector (e.g. between two successive projections [e.g. cleats]). Such a conveyor may be described as a cleated belt. The singulated modular building toy pieces are then identified, and sorted, downstream. Singulation advantageously improves the accuracy with which the modular building toy pieces can be identified, and sorted. The cascading oscillating separators facilitate this. Turning to briefly describe the second feed path 226, the second feed path 226 is effectively a mirrored arrangement of the first feed path 224. The second feed path 226 will therefore not be described in detail, but again comprises a respective plurality (four in the illustrated arrangement) of cascading oscillating separators, selectively activated by respective sensors. All of the discussion above in connection with the first plurality of cascading separators 228 applies equally to the second plurality of oscillating separators 230 (e.g. albeit associated with the second feed path 226, rather than the first feed path 223). At a downstream end of the second plurality of cascading oscillating separators, the second feed conveyor 234 also conveys singulated modular building toy pieces to the first identifying conveyor. Again, the second feed conveyor 234 preferably comprises a plurality of defined sectors, between projections, with (at most) one modular building toy piece being disposed in each sector. Each of the aforementioned sensors associated with the first and second pluralities of cascading oscillating separators may be in operative communication with the (central) processing unit. Alternatively, sensors may be operatively connected to local controllers for the relevant actuator. Figure 9 schematically indicates operative connections between the various elements of the apparatus 200. Processing unit 24, e.g. comprising a processor and a memory, receives, processes and outputs data from a number of different elements and, in particular, from three other processing units associated with other components of the apparatus 200. Each of the first and second camera arrays 235,245, and constituent individual cameras, are in operative communication with a dedicated processing unit 237, 239. The database 25 is in operative communication with the processing units 237, 239, so the processing units 237, 239 associated with the camera arrays 235, 245 can identify modular building toy pieces. Once the type of modular toy building piece is identified, data indicative of the type of piece (e.g. a unique identifier) is sent to the processing unit 24. The processing unit 24 then determines what action to take with the identified piece. The processing unit 24 then sends an instruction to a further processing unit 25. The further processing unit 25 may be described as a controller. The further processing unit 25 is in operative communication with various mechanical elements of the apparatus 200. For example, optionally, one or more sensors (e.g. distance sensors) are operatively connected to the processing unit 27. One or more conveyor motors 318 (e.g. that drive one or more of the conveyors) are optionally operatively connected to the processing unit 27. Actuators 320, such as the hopper arm 321 (for controlling arm 226), vibratory 322 (e.g. for the oscillating separators) or sorting oscillators 324 (e.g. for delivering a jet of compressed air) may be provided in operative communication with the processing unit 27. A GUI 326, for an operatorto input a sorting command, is optionally in operative communication with the processing unit 24. One or more of the processing units 237, 239, 25, 27 described above may be constituted by a computer or server. The processing units 237, 239, 25, 27 comprise a processor and a memory. Processing unit 24 may be described as a master processing unit. Processing units 237, 239 may be described as first and second camera array processing units. Processing unit 27 may be described as a mechanical element processing unit, or controller. All of the operative connections described above may be by way of wired or wireless connection, and may be local or remote (e.g. over a network). Turning to Figure 10, a method 327 of singulating, identifying and sorting modular building toy pieces (MPTP) according to the invention is provided. The method 327 can be carried out by the apparatus 200 described illustrated in connection with Figures 5a to 9, and the apparatus 1 in the earlier Figures. In the following description, reference numerals other than those shown in Figure 10 refer to the parts of the apparatus 200 which carries out the steps. In a first step 328, a plurality of MBTP are placed into the feed system 202. This may be described as bulk MBTP being loaded into the inlet hopper 214 (specifically an inlet thereof). The bulk MBTP is then conveyed, and elevated, by the lift conveyor 220, and delivered to the hopper 222. At this point the bulk MBTP has been part-singulated into subsets of MBTP as defined between sectors of lift conveyor 220. At step 330 the hopper 222 directs, by way of the arm 226, the subset of MBTP along one of a plurality of feed paths (e.g., one of the first and second feed paths 224, 226). Described another way, the arm 226 of the hopper 222 directs the subset of MBTP through one of the two outlets 292, 294. After exiting the hopper 222 through one of the outlets 292, 294, the subset of MBTP reaches a first oscillating separator. The first oscillating separator is an upstream-most one of a plurality of cascading oscillating separators 228, 230 depending upon whether the subset of MBTP is directed along the first or second feed path 224, 226. The first oscillating separator is selectively activated to oscillate (e.g. vibrate) the subset of MBTP to increase a separation between individual MBTP within the subset. The activation is preferably controlled by way of a distance sensor which detects the presence, or absence, of MBTP and so gradually increases the separation between subsequent MBTP (e.g. to singulate the MBTP). At step 334 singulated MBTP is conveyed towards the first identifying conveyor 204 by one of the first and second feed conveyors 232, 234 (again, depending upon whether the MBTP is directed along the first or second feed paths 224, 226). At step 336 the singulated MBTP is transferred onto, and conveyed along, the first identifying conveyor 204. At step 338, a singulated MBTP is conveyed along the first identifying conveyor 204, with the MBTP a first orientation, and the first camera array 235 of the first identifying apparatus 208 photographs the MBTP. At step 340 the singulated MBTP is transferred from the first identifying conveyor 204 to the second identifying conveyor 210. Owing to the second identifying conveyor 210 being a vertically lower height than the first identifying conveyor 204, the singulate MBTP drops onto the second identifying conveyor 210 in a second, different orientation. At step 342 the singulated MBTP is conveyed along the second identifying conveyor 210 (in the second orientation). With the MBTP in the second orientation, the second camera array 245 of the second identifying apparatus 210 photographs the MBTP. At step 344 the singulated MBTP is identified based on the outputs of the first and second camera arrays 235, 245. Described another way, the series of images taken by the two camera arrays 235, 245 are processed and then compared to the database of existing MBTP types. Processing the images may comprise creating a vector from the images from each camera array. The vector may then be compared against the database (which may be a vector database) to identify the type of modular toy building piece. At step 346 the singulate MBTP is transferred to the outward conveyor 212. At step 348 the singulated, and identified, MBTP is conveyed to a destination based upon the identity of the MBTP and a sorting command. For example, step 348 may determine that the MBTP is a new type of MBTP (e.g. no existing database entry), in which case the MBTP may be transferred to the receptacle 276. In a further example, MBTP of a certain colour (e.g. blue, green, yellow etc.) being detected may be conveyed to (second) chute 258 (in turn corresponding to a receptacle placed under chute 258). As mentioned above, with reference to Figure 9, the processing unit 24 may receive data indicative of the type of modular toy building piece and process that data to determine the action to be taken. Processing unit 24 then instructs processing unit 27, with processing unit 27 actuating, for example, a sorting actuator 324 to convey the modular toy building piece to the destination determined by the processing unit 24. The processing unit 24 may issue the sorting command e.g. based upon a GUI input by an operator. The processing unit 27 then processes the sorting command into actuation of one or more mechanical elements (e.g. sorting actuator 324). The method 327 advantageously provides an efficient and automatic way of singulating, identifying and sorting bulk MBTP, facilitating the reuse of existing MBTP.The one or more embodiments are described above by way of example only. Many variations are possible without departing from the scope of protection afforded by the appended claims. The apparatus is also preferably ‘self learning’ in that the more data that the system collates, the more accurate the identification of the pieces is. Embodiments of the invention may also be defined by one or more of the following numbered clauses: 1. A system for sorting and identifying modular building toy pieces, comprising a feed system operable to receive bulk modular building toy pieces and output a single modular building toy piece at a time, at least two conveyors on which the modular building toy pieces travel, a first conveyor being arranged such that there is a vertical displacement between the first conveyor and a second conveyor and pieces on the first conveyor are transferred to the second conveyor, an identification apparatus positioned above each conveyor operable to identify the modular building toy pieces on said conveyors, and an outward conveyor operable to convey each modular building toy piece to a destination. 2. An apparatus according to clause 1 wherein the first conveyor operates at such a speed that the modular building toy pieces output from the feed system are equally spaced apart upon the conveyors. 3. An apparatus according to any proceeding clause wherein the surface of each conveyor has one or more surface adaptations to allow the surface to better grip the modular building toy pieces placed thereon. 4. An apparatus according to any preceding clause wherein the surface of the conveyor and / or outward conveyor are formed from or surface coated with a suitable high friction material, such as rubber. 5. An apparatus according to any preceding clause wherein the first conveyor is configured to drop each modular building toy piece onto the second conveyor. 6. An apparatus according to any preceding clause wherein each identification apparatus is operable to take one or more images of each modular building toy piece on the relevant conveyor. 7. An apparatus according to clause 6 wherein each identification apparatus comprises one or more cameras arranged to take photographs of the modular building toy piece on the relevant conveyor. 8. An apparatus according to any preceding clause wherein the identification apparatuses are together able to determine the type of each modular building toy piece imaged by said identification apparatuses. 9. An apparatus according to any preceding clause wherein the identification apparatuses (either alone or in combination) are able to determine the type of each modular building toy piece using a conventional machine vision (MV) system. 10. An apparatus according to clause 9 wherein the MV system is operable to identify the quality of the modular building toy pieces. 11. An apparatus according to any preceding clause wherein the identification apparatus is operable to make decisions regarding each modular building toy piece depending upon the identified type of each modular building toy piece. 12. An apparatus as claimed in clause 11 wherein the decisions made by the identification apparatus includes deciding the destination of each modular building toy piece. 13. An apparatus as claimed in any preceding clause wherein one or more output actuators is provided adjacent the outward conveyor. 14. An apparatus as claimed in clause 13 wherein the or each output actuator comprises a compressed air blower operable to blow individual modular building toy pieces off the outward conveyor. 15. An apparatus as claimed in either clause 13 or 14 wherein the or each output actuator is aligned with a corresponding modular building toy piece receptacle. 16. A method of sorting and identifying modular building toy pieces, the method comprising: placing a plurality of modular building toy pieces into a feed system operable to output a single modular building toy piece at a time onto a first conveyor, conveying each modular building toy piece on at least two conveyors, each conveyor having an identification apparatus positioned above the conveyor, the conveyors having a vertical displacement between the first conveyor and a second conveyor, identifying each modular building toy piece using said identification apparatuses, transferring each modular building toy piece to an outward conveyor, and conveying each modular building toy piece to a destination via the outward conveyor. 17. A method according to clause 16 comprising a pre-sorting stage. 18. A method according to either clause 16 or 17 wherein method comprises re sorting and identifying previously sorted and identified modular building toy pieces. 19. A method according to any of clauses 16 to 18 wherein the method comprises assigning a unique identifier to each modular building toy piece type. 20. A method according to any of clauses 16 to 19 wherein the method comprises a training step used to assign unique identifiers to modular building toy piece types which have not previously been assigned a unique identifier.

Claims

1. A method of singulating, identifying and sorting modular building toy pieces, the method comprising:placing a plurality of modular building toy pieces into a feed system operable to output a single modular building toy piece at a time onto a first identifying conveyor, the feed system comprising:a hopper directing the plurality of modular building toy pieces along one of a plurality of feed paths, each feed path comprising a plurality of selectively activated, cascading oscillating separators, wherein activating the oscillating separators singulates the modular building toy pieces, each feed path further comprising a feed conveyor that conveys the singulated modular building toy pieces towards the first identifying conveyor;conveying each modular building toy piece on at least two identifying conveyors, each identifying conveyor having an identification apparatus positioned along the identifying conveyor, the identifying conveyors having a vertical displacement between the first identifying conveyor and a second identifying conveyor that causes each modular building toy piece to change orientation, between the first identifying conveyor and the second identifying conveyor, from a first orientation to a second orientation;identifying each modular building toy piece using said identification apparatuses, each identification apparatus comprising a camera array comprising a plurality of cameras arranged in different orientations, wherein the camera arrays are activated to photograph each modular building toy piece in each of the firstand second orientations, and identifying each modular building toy piece based upon an output of the first and second camera arrays being compared to a database of modular building toy pieces; andtransferring each modular building toy piece to an outward conveyor, and conveying each modular building toy piece to a destination via the outward conveyor, the destination being determined based upon the identity of the modular building toy piece and a sorting command.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises assigning a unique identifier to each modular building toy piece type.

3. A method according to claims 1 or 2, further comprising a training step.

4. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the training step comprises determining a new modular building toy piece type not present in the database, and adding the new modular building toy piece type to the database.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the adding the new modular building toy piece to the database comprises photographing the new modular building toy piece and assigning a unique identifier to the new modular building toy piece.

6. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein, for each feed path, the cascading oscillating separators oscillate at different frequencies.

7. The method according to any preceding claim, further comprising a plurality of sensors for detecting a modular building toy piece.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the plurality of sensors comprises a plurality of distance sensors.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein a modular building toy piece detection sensor is associated with each oscillating separator.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein each oscillating separator is activated based upon an output from the associated modular building toy piece detection sensor.

11. The method according to any preceding claim, wherein placing a plurality of modular building toy pieces into the feed system comprises raising the plurality of modular building toy pieces using a lift conveyor.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the plurality of modular building toy pieces are dropped into the hopper by the lift conveyor.

13. The method according to any preceding claim, wherein each camera array comprises five or more cameras, four cameras taking photographs from above the identifying conveyor in different directions, and one camera taking a photograph across the identifying conveyor.

14. The method according to any preceding claim, wherein the destination comprises one of 10 or more, preferably 20 or more, more preferably 50 or more different destinations.

15. The method according to any preceding claim, wherein the destination comprises a receptacle from a plurality of different receptacles.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the conveying each modular building toy piece to a destination via the outward conveyor further comprises using a 5 jet of compressed air to urge the each modular building toy piece off the outward conveyor and into the destination, the destination optionally comprising a receptacle.

17. The method according to any preceding claim, wherein identifying each modular building toy piece comprises classifying the each modular building toy piece into one or more of the following categories: i) two or more modular building toy pieces 10 detected; ii) damaged modular building toy piece detected; or iii) new modular building toy piece type detected.

18. The method according to any preceding claim, wherein the sorting command comprises sorting modular building toy pieces according to one or more of: i) colour; ii) theme; iii) brand; iv) genus; v) shape; orvi) associated set.15

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