Remanufacturing End-of-Life Devices with the Help of AI and Robotics

The European Union is funding a collaborative circular economy project as part of its “Horizon Europe” program: “RESURRECTION”, coordinated by Dr. René Wöstmann from the Institute of Production Systems (IPS) at TU Dortmund University, will receive around €7 million over four years. Representatives of the 16 project partners from eleven European countries met on 22 September for the kick-off meeting. Together, the organizations from science and industry will develop the technological basis for AI- and robotics-assisted remanufacturing of end-of-life devices – and test it in four industrial sectors.

Remanufacturing – the industrial refurbishment and reuse of products and components – is viewed as an important building block for a resource-efficient and climate-friendly economy. The challenge, however, lies in the fact that end-of-life devices are often returned in highly varying states. This necessitates flexible processes for the diagnosis, disassembly, repair and reuse of such material. To this end, the researchers participating in the RESURRECTION project will develop a comprehensive modular system that combines artificial intelligence, robotics and digital technologies.

“If we want to achieve a real circular economy, we have to keep products in the value creation cycle for much longer,” says Dr. René Wöstmann, who together with Professor Jochen Deuse heads the Institute of Production Systems (IPS) at TU Dortmund University. “To do this, companies require intelligent and flexible solutions that automatically assess the state of returned products, derive suitable refurbishment strategies and enable humans and robotic systems to work together in the best possible way. With RESURRECTION, we are creating the technological basis for cost-effective and scalable remanufacturing.”

Photo: A large group of participants poses for a group photo on tiered steps in a building foyer. — At the kick-off event at Kempten University of Applied Sciences, the project partners discussed the development of AI- and robotics-based solutions for remanufacturing.

The researchers are developing methods for the automated assessment of product state, Digital Product Passports for greater transparency and traceability, and digital twins for planning, monitoring and optimizing remanufacturing processes. Another goal is to develop and utilize AI-based robotic capabilities for disassembly, inspection and component recovery. The project also focuses on the workforce: new training and continuing education modules as well as user-friendly human-machine interfaces can facilitate interaction between operators and intelligent systems.

The technologies developed within the project will be tested in four industrial applications: electric vehicle batteries, washing machines, industrial robots and telecommunication devices. Through these pilots, the international consortium, comprising both research institutions and companies, aims to demonstrate how remanufacturing can be put into practice more efficiently, economically and sustainably in different sectors in the future.

The Consortium

Fifteen other partners from science and industry are participating in RESURRECTION alongside TU Dortmund University. They come from Germany, France, Greece, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, Spain and Türkiye.

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