What makes EV battery dismantlement different from ordinary disassembly?
Motionwell Automation entered the EV battery industry in 2023 with the design and delivery of an automated battery dismantlement line. The project addresses the growing need for safe, efficient battery module disassembly as the electric vehicle market expands across Southeast Asia. The wider picture, who commissions teardown lines and what they need recorded, is on the EV battery automation page.
The distinguishing constraint is that the workpiece is energised and cannot be switched off. A pack arrives with stored energy in it, so the normal sequence of guarding an automation cell – isolate, then work – is not available. Everything downstream of that fact, from the insulation on the grippers to the choice of stopping category, follows from it. That is why this line was scoped as a machine safety and compliance project with a disassembly process attached, rather than as a handling project with guards added at the end.
Why does the safety case drive the whole design?
EV battery dismantlement presents unique challenges:
- High-voltage DC power (400V+) in battery modules
- Thermal runaway risk if cells are damaged during disassembly
- Exposure to toxic electrolyte materials
- Heavy module weights requiring mechanical handling
Motionwell’s design prioritizes safety at every step, engineered to ISO 13849 Performance Level d across all safety functions:
- Insulated tooling: All robot end-effectors use Nomex and GPO-3 fiberglass laminate insulation rated to 1,000V DC. Fixturing contact surfaces are lined with Delrin (acetal) to prevent electrical bridging between module terminals.
- Safety-rated controllers: ABB SafeMove2 safety functions running on the ABB OmniCore controller provide safe speed monitoring, safe standstill, and safe axis range limiting. The safety PLC (ABB Pluto B46) monitors all safety circuits independently of the robot controller.
- Interlocked access: Schmersal AZM300 solenoid-locking interlocks on all access doors. Doors remain locked until the robot reaches safe standstill and the area voltage is confirmed below 60V DC by the isolation monitoring relay.
- Environmental controls: LEV (local exhaust ventilation) hoods at each disassembly station with HEPA-filtered extraction rated at 2,000 m3/h. Continuous gas detection sensors (Draeger Polytron 8000) monitor for hydrogen fluoride and volatile organic compounds. The line operates under slight negative pressure relative to the surrounding facility.
Because operators still share the building with the cell and load incoming packs at the head of the line, the risk assessment separated the fenced robot stations from the manual loading area. Where a task genuinely needs a person and a robot in the same space, the rules are the ones set out in our guide to collaborative robot safety standards; those rules were deliberately not used to justify an open cell here. The general form of that decision is worked through in cobot vs industrial robot, and the wider equipment context on our battery and energy storage automation page.
How is the line laid out?
Robotic Disassembly Stations
The line uses two ABB IRB 6700-200/2.60 robots, each with 200kg payload capacity and 2.6m reach. These 6-axis articulated robots were selected for the combination of high payload (battery modules weigh 30-80kg depending on format) and the dexterity required for fastener access in confined module geometries:
- Automated fastener removal using Atlas Copco QST torque-controlled nutrunners mounted on the robot flange, with torque and angle data logged per fastener for process traceability
- Busbar disconnection sequence performed with insulated grippers, following a voltage verification step via Fluke 1587 insulation resistance measurement integrated into the cell controller
- Module extraction using vacuum-assisted mechanical grippers with load cells confirming module weight against expected values before transfer
- Component sorting into 4 recycling streams: cathode material, anode material, copper busbars, and aluminum casing
The battery module handling procedure follows a strict sequence: incoming pack identification via barcode scan, automated voltage and insulation resistance check, mechanical disassembly, electrical disconnection, module separation, and final sorting. Each step requires a green status from the preceding operation before the robot proceeds. The barcode read and the visual condition check at the head of the line use the same camera and lighting approach described on our machine vision inspection capability page – a swollen or deformed casing has to be caught before a gripper touches it, not after.
Conveyor and Fixturing
- Bosch Rexroth TS 5 heavy-duty belt conveyor system rated for 500kg per pallet position
- Adjustable fixturing with Destaco pneumatic clamps and 3D-printed Nylon 12 locating nests, reconfigurable for prismatic and pouch cell module formats
- Gravity-free roller transfer between stations using Interroll zero-pressure accumulation zones
- 3-position accumulation buffer between disassembly and sorting to decouple station cycle times
How do the safety functions actually work?
Safety-Rated Robot Controllers with Dual-Channel Monitoring
The ABB OmniCore controllers operate with SafeMove2 safety functions that implement dual-channel monitoring across all safety-critical parameters. Each safety function (safe speed, safe standstill, safe axis range, safe orientation) is monitored by two independent processing channels that cross-check each other continuously. If either channel detects a parameter exceeding its programmed limit, the safety system triggers a controlled stop within the category 1 stop time (typically under 500ms for these payloads).
The dual-channel architecture means that a single component failure in one monitoring channel cannot compromise the safety function. This is a fundamental requirement for achieving ISO 13849 Performance Level d in high-voltage battery handling applications, where a robot moving unexpectedly could puncture a cell and trigger thermal runaway.
The safety PLC (ABB Pluto B46) provides an additional independent safety layer, monitoring all hardwired safety circuits (E-stops, door interlocks, light curtains) separately from the robot controller’s internal safety functions.
Insulated Tooling for High-Voltage Environments
All robot end-effectors and gripping tools are rated for operation in high-voltage DC environments up to 1,000V. The insulation design follows a defense-in-depth approach:
- Primary insulation: Nomex aramid paper wrapping (UL recognized, Class H thermal rating at 180 degrees C) on all metallic gripper fingers and tool mounting plates. Nomex maintains its dielectric strength even when exposed to electrolyte contamination.
- Secondary insulation: GPO-3 fiberglass laminate mounting brackets between the robot flange and the tool body, providing structural insulation with a dielectric strength of 45kV/mm.
- Contact surface isolation: Delrin (acetal homopolymer) liners on all fixture surfaces that contact battery module terminals, preventing electrical bridging between positive and negative terminals during handling.
Insulation resistance is verified weekly using a 1,000V DC megohmmeter test, with results logged in the maintenance system. Any tool showing insulation resistance below 100 megohm is immediately removed from service.
Emergency Stop with Safe Torque Off (STO)
The emergency stop system implements Safe Torque Off (STO) as the primary stopping method. When an E-stop is activated, the STO function immediately removes power from the robot servo drives, causing the robot to stop under mechanical friction and gravity rather than controlled deceleration. STO is the appropriate stopping category for battery disassembly because:
- It eliminates any possibility of the robot continuing to move under motor power after an E-stop
- The response time is effectively instantaneous (power removal within 10ms)
- It functions independently of the robot controller software, providing a hardwired safety response
Following an STO event, the robot requires a deliberate restart sequence: E-stop reset, safety circuit acknowledgment, robot reference run, and operator confirmation. This prevents inadvertent restart after an emergency.
Modular Fixture Design
The line’s fixturing system uses a modular design with adjustable mounting points to accommodate different battery module dimensions without fabricating new fixtures. The base fixture plate features a grid of M8 threaded inserts on 50mm centers, allowing pneumatic clamps and locating pins to be repositioned for different module footprints.
Module-specific locating features mount on Destaco pneumatic swing clamps with adjustable stroke and clamping force. Changeover between battery module formats requires repositioning the clamps and updating the clamp position recipe in the PLC – a procedure that takes approximately 30 minutes with two technicians. No welding, drilling, or permanent modification is required.
The fixture mounting plates are fabricated from anodized aluminum 6061-T6, selected for its strength-to-weight ratio (enabling manual repositioning) and non-magnetic properties (avoiding interference with battery management system electronics during disassembly).
Conveyor with Anti-Static Treatment
The Bosch Rexroth TS 5 belt conveyor surfaces receive anti-static treatment to prevent electrostatic charge buildup during battery module transport. The conveyor belts use carbon-fiber-loaded PVC with surface resistivity in the 10^6 to 10^9 ohm range (dissipative classification per IEC 61340-5-1). Grounding straps connect the conveyor frame to the facility ground bus at every 3-meter interval.
Anti-static treatment is critical in battery dismantlement because electrostatic discharge near exposed cell terminals could ignite flammable electrolyte vapors or damage battery management system PCBs. The dissipative belt material bleeds static charge to ground gradually rather than allowing sudden discharge events.
Constraints and trade-offs
Safe Torque Off instead of a controlled stop on the emergency circuit. A category 1 stop decelerates the robot under motor control and leaves the arm where the program put it, which is kinder to the mechanics and faster to restart. It was rejected for the E-stop path because it keeps the drives energised for the duration of the deceleration. With a cell open above a punctured cell risk, the design accepts a coasting arm over a powered one. The cost is real: after any E-stop the robot must run a reference sequence and an operator has to acknowledge the safety circuit before production resumes, so a nuisance trip is expensive in minutes.
A reconfigurable fixture grid instead of dedicated hard tooling. Dedicated nests for one module format would clamp faster, locate better and need no recipe management. The grid of threaded inserts with repositionable clamps was chosen because the incoming mix is not under the operator’s control – a recycler takes what arrives. The trade-off is a 30-minute changeover with two technicians and a clamp-position recipe that has to be right, because a mislocated module is a mechanical interference on a live pack.
Robots sized for payload at reach, not for speed. Modules run 30-80 kg and have to be lifted at extension, which sets the arm class. Cycle time was never the selection criterion, and it could not have been: the voltage and insulation-resistance verification step in front of every disconnection takes as long as it takes and cannot be compressed by a faster arm. Anyone benchmarking this line on parts per hour is measuring the wrong thing.
The line stops at module separation. Cell-level teardown, electrolyte handling and cathode processing were left out of scope. Automating them would mean handling breached cells as a normal condition rather than as a fault, which is a different machine with a different fire case. Where a scope boundary like this is drawn is usually the most consequential decision in a project – the reasoning is the same one covered in what turnkey automation does and does not include.
Related work
This project showcases Motionwell’s robotics integration and custom special purpose machine design, with machine vision supporting the barcode identification and defect detection steps. Buyers comparing integrators for a hazardous-process cell may find our checklist on choosing a system integrator useful before the first site visit.
To discuss a dismantlement or hazardous-material handling cell, tell us the pack format and the throughput you need.