Concept of an agile production system based on learning robots applied to disassembly

Agile production systems combine a high degree of flexibility and adaptability. These qualities are particularly crucial in an environment with high uncertainty, for example in the context of remanufacturing. Remanufacturing describes the industrial process of reconditioning used parts so that they regain comparable technical properties as new parts. Due to the scarcity of resources and regulatory requirements, the importance of remanufacturing is increasing. Due to the unpredictable component properties, automation plays a subordinate role in remanufacturing. The authors present a concept how automated disassembly can be achieved even for components of uncertain specifications by using artificial intelligence. For the autonomous development of disassembly capabilities, digital twins are used as learning environments. On the other hand, skills and problem-solving strategies are identified and abstracted from human observation. To achieve an efficient disassembly system, a modular station concept is applied, both on the technical and on the information technology level.