Intelligent, flexible disassembly

Semi- or fully-automatised disassembly, especially of electr(on)ic devices, is a a hot topic today and not only because of the standardization by the European Commission (directive on waste from electrical and electronic equipment—WEEE). Usually, only toxic components are removed manually while the rest of the materials are shredded and disposed. Manual disassembly of such devices is today state of the art. Because of this EC regulation and the increasing amount of electronic scrap, manual disassembly will get more and more inefficient in the near future. Therefore, automation of the disassembly process is absolutely necessary. This paper deals with robotized, semi-automatised, flexible disassembly cells for minidisks, printed circuit boards (PCBs) and mobile phones in industrial use. Finally a new concept for modular disassembly cells based on “disassembly families”, mobile robots and multi agent systems (MAS) is presented.