Robotic ease of Disassembly Metric (Re-DiM) for human robot cooperative disassembly: A case study for a vacuum cleaner

Abstract

Remanufacturing, a beacon of economic and ecological alignment, hinges on disassembly’s complexity. As both manual and robotic approaches face challenges, systems in which human and robots can work iteratively offer adaptable solutions, curbing the required system flexibility at acceptable capital expenditure. However, today no metrics exist to evaluate the ease of disassembly of product designs when considering a combination of manual and robotic disassembly Therefore, this study extends the existing ease of Disassembly Metric (e-DiM) for designers, policymakers, and recyclers in anticipation of the industrialization of human-robot cooperative disassembly systems. For the development of such a metric the expected limitations of robotic disassembly systems are first discussed based on prior research. Subsequently, a set of criteria are presented to define which operations can be performed successfully in a flexible system. Finally, the Robotic ease of Disassembly metric (Re-DiM) is introduced, which serves to comprehensively evaluate both manual and robotic disassembly times. To validate Re-DiM’s applicability, the ease of both manual and robotic disassembly is evaluated for all critical components of a robotic vacuum cleaner. The presented case study highlights today’s robotic disassembly challenges, underscoring also the relevance of novel design for robotic disassembly approaches.