Digital twin and extended reality for teleoperation of the electric vehicle battery disassembly

2025-07-20

AI Summary

To address safety hazards—including electric shock and chemical exposure—associated with manual disassembly of electric vehicle batteries (EVBs), this paper proposes a human-robot collaborative remote disassembly and sorting system integrating digital twin (DT) and extended reality (XR) technologies. Methodologically, we develop a ROS-based robotic digital twin platform achieving high-fidelity physical-digital alignment via RGB vision; design a generalizable disassembly sequence generation mechanism enabling adaptive identification of unknown battery types and task reuse; and integrate teleoperation with autonomous control to support hybrid human-robot decision-making. Experimental results demonstrate that the system significantly reduces human involvement, enhances operational safety, and improves recycling throughput. Online pilot deployment validates its practicality and scalability within closed-loop EVB recycling supply chains.

Technology Category

• Intelligent Robots: Human-Robot Interaction
• Humans and AI: Planning and Decision Support for Human-Machine Teams
• Computer Vision: Vision for Robotics & Autonomous Driving

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Energy management for devices in mobile Web and WoT environments
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: The sharing economy

Abstract

Disassembling and sorting Electric Vehicle Batteries (EVBs) supports a sustainable transition to electric vehicles by enabling a closed-loop supply chain. Currently, the manual disassembly process exposes workers to hazards, including electrocution and toxic chemicals. We propose a teleoperated system for the safe disassembly and sorting of EVBs. A human-in-the-loop can create and save disassembly sequences for unknown EVB types, enabling future automation. An RGB camera aligns the physical and digital twins of the EVB, and the digital twin of the robot is based on the Robot Operating System (ROS) middleware. This hybrid approach combines teleoperation and automation to improve safety, adaptability, and efficiency in EVB disassembly and sorting. The economic contribution is realized by reducing labor dependency and increasing throughput in battery recycling. An online pilot study was set up to evaluate the usability of the presented approach, and the results demonstrate the potential as a user-friendly solution.

Problem

• Teleoperation system for safe EV battery disassembly and sorting
• Human-in-the-loop creates reusable disassembly sequences for automation
• Hybrid approach improves safety, adaptability, and efficiency in recycling

Innovation

• Digital twin aligns physical and virtual EVB
• ROS-based robot digital twin for teleoperation
• Hybrid teleoperation-automation enhances safety efficiency