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.
