Battery research – assembly, disassembly, and circular economy

Production for the mobility transition

The IFT is part of an interdisciplinary research landscape that is accompanying the transition to electromobility. Together with scientific and industrial research partners, we are developing processes for the automated assembly and safe disassembly of battery systems.

A highlight is our own battery research laboratory with automated handling systems and a geometric battery cell tester developed in-house, which uses visualizing technology to automatically check the dimensions and surfaces of different cell types. The research aims to achieve a recyclable battery design, improved recycling strategies, and safe second-life concepts. All research projects are very application-oriented and consider production-oriented product and process development, starting with requirements analysis, through specification and design development, to implementation with subsequent verification and validation of the results.

Projects in focus:

  • BIC – Design and construction of a flexible plant for assembling battery cells into battery modules and packs.
  • CERES – Development and implementation of a fully automatic cell tester for 100% control and geometric inspection of all common cell types and dimensions.
  • BattBox – Development of modular disassembly processes to improve recycling and resource utilization. Methods and strategies
  • Battery4Life – COMET-K1 center for increasing the safety, service life, and sustainability of batteries with AI-supported condition assessments.

Equipment & test infrastructure

  • Battery research laboratory
    • Equipment: Automated stations for assembling and disassembling battery systems and for geometric quality control, manual workstations for prototype and fixture construction, storage containers for battery systems.
    • Use: Laboratory for investigating manufacturing challenges of existing and future battery systems throughout their entire life cycle.
    • Special features: For all cell types, formats, and chemistries, both for batch size 1 and higher quantities
  • Automated assembly and disassembly stations
    • Equipment: Flexible robot cells with grippers and tool changers
    • Application: Precise and safe handling of battery housings, modules, and cells
    • Special features: Highly flexible and adaptable to different battery formats and designs
  • Collaborative robot with force-torque sensors
    • Equipment: Collaborative 6-axis robot with sensor-supported gripping technology
    • Application: Careful handling of sensitive battery cells in a shared workspace with humans
    • Special features: Real-time detection and compensation of position deviations, human-robot collaboration
  • Battery cell tester
    • Equipment: Laser profiler and code reader including evaluation software and manipulation components
    • Application: Identification and geometric inspection of round cells, prismatic cells, and pouch cells
    • Special features: Dimension and tolerance checking of all battery cell types and formats for incoming goods inspection on pilot lines.

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