Information Models for Automated Electric Vehicle Battery Disassembly: Integrating Domain Knowledge through a Multi-Faceted Data-Driven Approach

The widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) necessitates effective end-of-life management strategies for their battery packs. When pursuing a recycling strategy to recover valuable materials such as nickel, manganese, cobalt, and lithium, the first step in most cases is to dismantle the battery at least down to module level. The state-of-the-art disassembly of EV battery packs relies on domain knowledge and is carried out manually for the most part. The potential hazards inherent in the dismantling process and increasing numbers of end-of-life batteries, coupled with a shortage of skilled workers, call for a safer and more efficient approach to dismantling than is currently the case. However, due to the high variety of end-of-life battery packs that return to recycling companies and their high system complexity, fully automating the disassembly process is not economically feasible. Therefore, the paper introduces an approach to extract and transfer domain knowledge from human experts to an accessible and structured information model. This model is intended to serve as the foundation for the development of disassembly assistance systems capable of aiding human operators during manual disassembly tasks and, in the long term, enabling the automation of critical disassembly steps. ... mehrFurthermore, a concept for a disassembly station is proposed that allows a multi-faceted data collection process by providing a human-machine interface and multi-sensory equipment. This process encompasses detailed analysis of battery components, manual disassembly procedures, and expert insights. It aims at integrating, categorizing, and formalizing the collected data into a machine-readable format that captures both the procedural and semantic aspects of battery disassembly and enables the digital representation of the product and process.