Research unveils use of robots to deal with e-waste

CANBERRA (Scrap Monster): Researchers at the University of New South Wales, Australia have demonstrated techniques to employ robots to work on piles of electronic waste. According to project leader Professor Sami Kara, robots can be programmed to learn the design of various electronic devices, so that they can be dismantled at a faster pace.

The research was carried out jointly by members of Sustainable Manufacturing and Life Cycle Engineering Research Group (SMLCE) and the School of Computer Science and Engineering.

According to Professor Kara, there are large numbers of different products that land in e-recycling centers. The labors at these centers are mostly unaware of disassembling techniques for all these devices. The dismantling activity calls for intensive effort. Breaking down products into separate parts is costly as well. Above all is the risk of getting exposed to hazardous toxic materials, which may endanger the lives of employees.

The research successfully taught robot to disassemble LCD screens. Initially, the robot took time to dismantle screen types that were new to them. But they were disassembled in no time next time onwards. The robot could successfully remove the display and PCB without damaging them, so that the rest can be recycled.

The study targets use of additional industrial robots so that the entire e-waste dismantling process could be automated. It also intends to use similar techniques to recycle lithium batteries.