Periodic Reporting for period 1 - RENEE (FLEXIBLE REMANUFACTURING USING AI AND ADVANCED ROBOTICS FOR CIRCULAR VALUE CHAINS IN EU INDUSTRY)
Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-06-30
Mounting environmental concerns have highlighted the crisis in traditional manufacturing, leading to increased product waste and resource depletion. The EU-funded RENÉE project aims to address this by shifting towards circular value chains, emphasising remanufacturing in the household appliances, robotics and mobility sectors. Utilising advanced AI and robotics, RENÉE seeks to rejuvenate used products, fostering a sustainable revolution in the EU industry. By implementing digital remanufacturing management tools and flexible production robotics, the project aspires to transform EU industry into a beacon of sustainable and efficient remanufacturing. This effort marks a significant contribution towards the EU's goals for a greener, digitally integrated future.
RENEE envisions flexible remanufacturing using AI and advanced robotics for circular value chains in EU industry. The objective of RENÉE is to implement human-centric production systems relying on advanced robotics and AI to accommodate the remanufacturing of diverse states of used products. Additionally, RENÉE will accelerate the workforce upskilling/reskilling by deploying a remanufacturing educational platform and a set of operator support technologies. RENÉE follows a holistic approach providing product, process and resource-level enablers for remanufacturing applications including:
• Circular value chains configuration toolbox: Including software solutions for product state diagnosis and classification, methods for product ‘design for remanufacturability’, Digital Product Passport, and for remanufacturing value chain configuration and planning.
• Digital infrastructure for remanufacturing management: including a) tools for the planning and orchestration of flexible remanufacturing systems, b) deployment of Digital Twins customized for the remanufacturing process, and c) tools to enable product traceability and efficient management of the remanufacturing supplier network.
• Robot skills & flexible production modules for remanufacturing: Enabling the resource level autonomy for remanufacturing through the deployment of dedicated robot skills libraries, AI methods for decision-support and process optimization as well as advanced robotics integrated in hybrid production specialized in remanufacturing,
• Upskilling/reskilling the workforce for remanufacturing: Supporting operators both during the remanufacturing tasks via inclusive interfaces as well as providing the infrastructure (Educational platform) and required material (courses) for training them to meet the requirements of diversified remanufacturing operations.
The RENÉE modules will be validated in 4 use cases from different productions sectors:
• Household appliances, focusing on the inspection and disassembly of refrigerators,
• EV Motors industry, focusing on the disassembly of electrical motors and the retrieval of significant components,
• Robotics production, focusing on the inspection, refurbishment and disassembly of cartesian robots and
• Mobility sector, focusing on the inspection and testing of used bikes.
RENEE envisions flexible remanufacturing using AI and advanced robotics for circular value chains in EU industry. The objective of RENÉE is to implement human-centric production systems relying on advanced robotics and AI to accommodate the remanufacturing of diverse states of used products. Additionally, RENÉE will accelerate the workforce upskilling/reskilling by deploying a remanufacturing educational platform and a set of operator support technologies. RENÉE follows a holistic approach providing product, process and resource-level enablers for remanufacturing applications including:
• Circular value chains configuration toolbox: Including software solutions for product state diagnosis and classification, methods for product ‘design for remanufacturability’, Digital Product Passport, and for remanufacturing value chain configuration and planning.
• Digital infrastructure for remanufacturing management: including a) tools for the planning and orchestration of flexible remanufacturing systems, b) deployment of Digital Twins customized for the remanufacturing process, and c) tools to enable product traceability and efficient management of the remanufacturing supplier network.
• Robot skills & flexible production modules for remanufacturing: Enabling the resource level autonomy for remanufacturing through the deployment of dedicated robot skills libraries, AI methods for decision-support and process optimization as well as advanced robotics integrated in hybrid production specialized in remanufacturing,
• Upskilling/reskilling the workforce for remanufacturing: Supporting operators both during the remanufacturing tasks via inclusive interfaces as well as providing the infrastructure (Educational platform) and required material (courses) for training them to meet the requirements of diversified remanufacturing operations.
The RENÉE modules will be validated in 4 use cases from different productions sectors:
• Household appliances, focusing on the inspection and disassembly of refrigerators,
• EV Motors industry, focusing on the disassembly of electrical motors and the retrieval of significant components,
• Robotics production, focusing on the inspection, refurbishment and disassembly of cartesian robots and
• Mobility sector, focusing on the inspection and testing of used bikes.
The initial actions performed by RENÉE's consortium during the first period of the project are summarized into the following points:
• Definition of the pilot case scenarios:
o The Household Appliances pilot explores the remanufacturing of refrigerators and addresses challenges like repetitive manual disassembly, ergonomic strain, and uncertain product lifespan. By shifting to a sustainable model, returned refrigerators are refurbished for extended use, with valuable parts recovered. RENÉE technologies enable collaborative workstations with advanced robotics and reasoning systems to enhance human-robot interaction. This improves ergonomics, reduces manual effort, and increases remanufactured units annually.
o The EV Motors pilot addresses remanufacturing challenges of electric vehicle motors such as inefficient processes, component damage during disassembly, and complex supply chains. A take-back business model enables reuse of end-of-life motors with advanced testing to identify reusable parts. RENÉE technologies support this with human-robot collaboration and AI tools for diagnostics and part identification, improving efficiency, reducing waste, and lowering environmental impact. This increases remanufacturing rates and enhances cost-effectiveness.
o The Robotics pilot focuses on improving the remanufacturing of Cartesian industrial robots by addressing manual, time-intensive processes, ergonomic risks, and reliance on expert technicians. It introduces automated cleaning and disassembly, component tracking, and a rental model to promote sustainability. Key technologies include collaborative workstations and digital twins. These reduce labour strain, improve traceability, increase remanufacturing rates, and shorten processing times.
o The Mobility pilot aims to transform bicycle remanufacturing through automation and systematization. Addressing issues like subjective evaluations, lack of component tracking, and inconsistent quality checks, the model introduces automated inspection, traceability platforms, and in-store remanufacturing. With AI and smart sensors assessing bike conditions, the initiative improves quality reliability, enhances reuse of valuable components like carbon frames, shortens processing times, and boosts the number of refurbished bicycles.
• Definition of the requirements and specifications for the execution of pilot cases.
• Definition of RENÉE modules catalogue and design of the RENÉE architecture and the communication between s/w and h/w modules.
• Design and implementation of RENÉE web internal and public portal.
• Development of the initial version of technology prototypes.
• Definition of the pilot case scenarios:
o The Household Appliances pilot explores the remanufacturing of refrigerators and addresses challenges like repetitive manual disassembly, ergonomic strain, and uncertain product lifespan. By shifting to a sustainable model, returned refrigerators are refurbished for extended use, with valuable parts recovered. RENÉE technologies enable collaborative workstations with advanced robotics and reasoning systems to enhance human-robot interaction. This improves ergonomics, reduces manual effort, and increases remanufactured units annually.
o The EV Motors pilot addresses remanufacturing challenges of electric vehicle motors such as inefficient processes, component damage during disassembly, and complex supply chains. A take-back business model enables reuse of end-of-life motors with advanced testing to identify reusable parts. RENÉE technologies support this with human-robot collaboration and AI tools for diagnostics and part identification, improving efficiency, reducing waste, and lowering environmental impact. This increases remanufacturing rates and enhances cost-effectiveness.
o The Robotics pilot focuses on improving the remanufacturing of Cartesian industrial robots by addressing manual, time-intensive processes, ergonomic risks, and reliance on expert technicians. It introduces automated cleaning and disassembly, component tracking, and a rental model to promote sustainability. Key technologies include collaborative workstations and digital twins. These reduce labour strain, improve traceability, increase remanufacturing rates, and shorten processing times.
o The Mobility pilot aims to transform bicycle remanufacturing through automation and systematization. Addressing issues like subjective evaluations, lack of component tracking, and inconsistent quality checks, the model introduces automated inspection, traceability platforms, and in-store remanufacturing. With AI and smart sensors assessing bike conditions, the initiative improves quality reliability, enhances reuse of valuable components like carbon frames, shortens processing times, and boosts the number of refurbished bicycles.
• Definition of the requirements and specifications for the execution of pilot cases.
• Definition of RENÉE modules catalogue and design of the RENÉE architecture and the communication between s/w and h/w modules.
• Design and implementation of RENÉE web internal and public portal.
• Development of the initial version of technology prototypes.
RENÉE project has developed a suite of modular, interoperable technologies based on a system of flexible building blocks (hardware and software) that allow rapid adaptation to various remanufacturing scenarios across various sectors. The integration of AI-driven perception, collaborative robotics, digital twins, and circular economy strategies has enabled results beyond the state of the art in several key areas:
• Product State Diagnosis
• Twin4Excellence Framework
• Digital Product Passport and Digital Vault
• Process Scheduler and Orchestrator
• Robot Skills Library
• AI-enhanced Perception Systems
• Intelligent End Effectors
• Operator Support Interfaces
• Integration Platform
• Education Platform
• Product State Diagnosis
• Twin4Excellence Framework
• Digital Product Passport and Digital Vault
• Process Scheduler and Orchestrator
• Robot Skills Library
• AI-enhanced Perception Systems
• Intelligent End Effectors
• Operator Support Interfaces
• Integration Platform
• Education Platform