Enhancing Efficiency in Battery Re-Manufacturing through Human-Robot Collaboration: The BatteryLife Approach

Efficient disassembly and maintenance of battery packs are critical for sustainable practices and extending battery lifespans, particularly as second-life usage and re-purposing, such as traction batteries for home power storage, gain interest. This paper presents a novel Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) system designed to address the challenges of disassembling battery packs using a collaborative robot and advanced human-machine interfaces. Key features include a projected interface for task visualization and user guidance, CAD-driven localization for robotic unscrewing and screwing tasks, and the development of an accurate process for cutting welding seams. By integrating these technologies, the system aims to enhance the efficiency, safety, and precision of collaborative battery disassembly, offering economically viable methods for battery maintenance and reuse within the circular economy. This work addresses the current industrial gap in semi-automatic solutions for the disassembly and maintenance of Li-ion battery systems and contributes to advancing productivity in re-manufacturing processes. Evaluation results confirm the applicability of the approach in a real scenario, and revealed optimization potential.