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Setting a new path for sustainability with robots
22 August 2024
Growing awareness of the impact of manufacturing on the environment is encouraging companies to apply technology to make their production processes more sustainable. Julian Ware, Sales Manager for ABB Robotics in the UK and Ireland, explains how the introduction of robotic automation is enabling companies to re-imagine their processes to minimise waste.
With growing awareness of the impact that human activities are having on the environment, companies across all sectors are setting themselves ambitious targets to make their operations more sustainable.
Aimed at minimising their environmental footprint, these targets encompass a broad spectrum of measures, from sourcing sustainably produced ingredients and the use of biodegradable materials for packaging, through to recovering and recycling waste materials when products reach the end of their useful life.
In many cases, introducing these measures requires a rethink of existing processes – whether it be in terms of how a product is made, or, when it comes to the end of its life, how its constituent parts can be reused.
As developments in artificial intelligence (AI) are expanding robots’ decision-making capabilities, software is also helping to significantly simplify their programming and operation, which is creating new ways for companies to improve the sustainability of their operations.
The following are examples of projects that are using the inherent flexibility of robotic automation to reduce their environmental impact and create new potential revenue streams that could help to build a new breed of circular economy businesses.
Completing the circuit – recovering e-waste
Around 50 million tonnes of electronic products are consigned to waste every year, which is equivalent to throwing away 1,000 laptops every second. In many instances, this e-waste will include valuable materials such as gold, platinum, aluminium, silver, copper, and cobalt. Recovering and reusing these would avoid the need to extract new supplies, many of which are in increasingly short supply.
However, as many products contain toxic chemicals such as mercury and lead, there is a need to ensure that any recovery can be achieved with minimal risk of injury or exposure.
Irish technology start-up FPD Recycling has taken the first major step in tackling the waste generated by the estimated nine million computer and TV flat panel displays (FPDs) sold every year in the UK.
By installing the country’s first fully automated, robotic system of its kind at electronics-recycling specialist Areera in Elland, West Yorkshire, the company is helping to process and recycle complex and potentially hazardous e-waste.
The patented artificial intelligence (AI)-based system, which uses two ABB robots, can process up to 120 screens, when running at full capacity.
The system fits into a 40 ft container, with the processing of TVs, monitors and laptops separated into two machines, which can be used standalone or connected to one another.
Processing happens in three stages. In the first stage, the flat panel display device is weighed. Data is collected and the flat panel display technology is identified and categorised.
It then gets conveyed to the next station, where it is held into position; the first robot arm scans the screen, determines the processing method and then removes the liquid crystal display (LCD) screen.
This process ensures that any valuable or hazardous waste fractions are removed, leaving a clean waste stream that can either be shredded or manually disassembled.
With manufacturers required to pay substantial producer responsibility fees as part of the EU’s WEEE regulation, the system provides the added benefit of being able to collect data on every device that it handles.
Details on weight, size, manufacturer, barcode number and model number are all collected and stored, providing manufacturers, regulators and compliance organisations with valuable data on what is – and is not – being recycled.
Printing the future of sustainable retail
The problem of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans has seized the public’s attention in recent years as awareness grows of the devasting impact it is having on the world’s aquatic ecosystems.
It is estimated that there are around 51 trillion pieces of plastic currently scattered throughout the Earth’s seas, with 80 percent entering via rivers and coastline areas.
As well as impacting marine life, the problem also affects those who depend on the sea for their livelihood, either through fishing or tourism.
One novel solution has been developed by an environmental organisation and global network, Parley for the Oceans. Plastic debris recovered from the sea or washed up on beaches is turned into pellets which are then used by a 3D printing robot to create new items such as furniture and other solid items.
The sustainability benefits of being able to recover and reuse plastic in this way are considerable – producing just one ton of plastic requires 180,000l of water, whilst fossil fuels including crude oil and natural gas represent a key ingredient in 99 percent of all plastic objects.
The potential of robotic automation to turn recovered plastic into desirable objects was recently highlighted in a special demonstration at London’s Selfridges department store.
Developed in partnership with environmental organisation and global network, Parley for the Oceans, and innovative design brand, Nagami, the demonstration used ABB’s RobotStudio simulation software and an IRB 6700 robot to create a variety of printed furniture, homeware, and other objects made from Parley Ocean Plastic.
The robot, which was stationed in the front window of Selfridges on Oxford Street, London, used Nagami’s unique plastic extruder to print the objects which could be selected for purchase by customers on a screen and made to order on the premises, underlining the potential for robotic 3D printing using recycled plastic as part of a new age of environmentally responsible retailing.
Giving automotive batteries a new lease of life
As the world turns to hybrid and electric vehicles as a way of cutting pollution from transportation, so does the production of the batteries needed to power them.
While electric vehicles pose a potential solution to the problem of tackling exhaust emissions from petrol and diesel vehicles, the issues associated with producing the batteries pose their own set of environmental challenges.
In each case, the batteries produced will require large quantities of virgin materials, including rare metals such as cobalt, nickel and manganese. It is therefore important to ensure that as much of these materials as possible can be recovered and reused at the end of their serviceable life.
One company that is addressing this challenge is US automotive battery-pack remanufacturer Dorman Products Inc. The company uses an ABB IRB 4600 six-axis industrial robot as part of an automated system that identifies and picks appropriate battery modules that can be used to build a complete refurbished battery pack.
Developed using ABB’s RobotStudio offline simulation software, the automated system uses the ABB IRB 4600 as part of a cell to identify and either store or retrieve suitable modules from a series of racks arranged in a decagon around the robot.
The racks house up to 5,000 modules, with two conveyors on each side of the cell, one to bring in modules to be placed into the module library and the other to remove modules which have been selected by the robot for potential reuse.
The configuration of the 28 modules needed to create a battery pack needs to be precisely handled. Two modules go together to make a pair, with each module needing to be perfectly matched with its partner, and all pairs perfectly matched with each other.
The intelligence for the robot is provided by a combination of an ABB IRC 5 robot controller, which interfaces through a PLC with a LabVIEW software program. As modules enter the storage area, a SICK Inspector camera scans the QR code to correlate the item’s entry date and grade with its storage location.
The LabVIEW program stores this data and identifies likely good matches across each 28-module battery pack. QR codes are also scanned on exiting the area.
When the robot begins the matching process, the LabVIEW software program instructs the robot which modules to pull, and in which order they need to be pulled, based on the specifications of the specific order.
The efficiency of the solution highlights the scope of the potential reduced environmental impact that can be achieved through recycling the used batteries. Since the automated system was introduced, Dorman has increased its daily output of finished battery packs by 300 percent, with battery build times reduced by 66 percent.
Reimagining a sustainable future for manufacturing
These are just some examples of a wider range of applications where robots are enabling new approaches to solving problems that have traditionally impacted the sustainability of the manufacturing sector.
With other examples encompassing everything from manufacturing compostable packaging to reducing discharges of excess paint in automotive car-spraying processes, robots are providing an increasingly viable opportunity for companies to transform their efficiency whilst also minimising their environmental footprint.
To find out more about the possibilities presented by the latest generation of flexible robot automation, visit www.abb.com/robotics.
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