Date and time:  Dec 7 (Wed), 2022, 20:00 HKT (GMT+8)  [Local time]

Zoom link: https://hku.zoom.us/j/93965533071       Zoom meeting ID: 939 6553 3071

Seminar title: 

Robotic disassembly research – steps towards smart remanufacturing

Abstract:ANSI RIC001.1-2016 (Specifications For The Process Of Remanufacturing) defines remanufacturing as “a comprehensive and rigorous industrial process by which a previously sold, leased, used, worn, or non-functional product or part is returned to ‘like-new’ or ‘better-than-new’ condition, from both a quality and performance perspective, through a controlled, reproducible, and sustainable process.”  Remanufacturing is integral to a circular economy, saving raw materials and other resources including energy and water and drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions and the need for landfill.  The first task in almost all remanufacturing operations is the disassembly of the ‘core’ or the product to be remanufactured.  Due to the condition of the used product, disassembly can be a difficult task that has so far been almost exclusively undertaken by human operators.  This presentation describes research into robotic disassembly by our Autonomous Remanufacturing Laboratory.  The presentation will cover the five areas of work in the Laboratory: disassembly science, disassembly strategies, disassembly planning, collaborative disassembly and disassembly case studies.  The presentation will conclude that dawn has broken on research into robotic disassembly, but much work is still needed to enable the widespread industrial application of autonomous robots in disassembly, bringing about a revolution in remanufacturing to achieve truly smart remanufacturing.

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Speaker bio: 

Duc Truong PHAM OBE FREng FLSW FSME BE PhD DEng FIET FIMechE SFHEA holds the Chance Chair of Engineering at the University of Birmingham.  His research is in the areas of intelligent systems, robotics and autonomous systems and advanced manufacturing and remanufacturing technology.  He has published over 600 technical papers and books and has graduated more than 100 PhD students.  He is a recipient of several awards including five prizes from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Automation Congress and a Distinguished International Academic Contribution Award from the IEEE.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Learned Society of Wales, the Society for Manufacturing Engineers, the Institution of Engineering and Technology and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.  He is the founding editor of the Springer Series in Advanced Manufacturing, the founding editor-in-chief of Cogent Engineering and the editor-in-chief of the International Journal on Interactive Design and Manufacturing.