The mobility of the future demands innovative solutions, now more than ever. The transition to electromobility offers enormous potential, but also poses complex challenges. How can batteries be produced more sustainably, used more efficiently and recycled properly at the end of their service life? This is precisely where Festo and Comau come in, as their pioneering automation solutions contribute to a circular economy that saves resources. This is not just an empty statement, as you will find out here.
With 50 years of experience and a global presence, Comau, a Stellantis Group company, is a world leader in advanced and sustainable automation solutions.
"In addition to developing innovative and user-friendly technologies, we offer a portfolio that includes products and systems for vehicle production as well as advanced digital and robotic solutions. This enables us to meet the production needs of fast-growing markets such as logistics, renewable energy and shipbuilding," says Francesco Beccarisi, Innovation & Process Technologies at Comau. The market for electromobility is experiencing sustained growth. "Although lithium-ion batteries will remain the dominant technology in the automotive sector for the next 5 - 10 years, the market will see a significant increase in demand for next-generation batteries, such as solid-state batteries."
New technologies and more efficient, sustainable and cost-effective manufacturing processes are needed to support the large-scale industrial production of next-generation batteries and accelerate the energy transition.
"E-mobility and the significant investments made in recent years mark the beginning of the evolution of transport," explains Claudio Giovando, Global Key Account Manager of the Automotive & Electric Vehicles Business Developer at Festo. "In addition to solutions for manufacturing cells, battery modules and electric motors, Festo has been interested from the outset in closing the production cycle of the batteries themselves in order to reduce waste and promote the reuse of materials. This will help to reduce the extraction of rare and finite raw materials that would otherwise not be able to meet the demand of this fast-growing market."
The energy and environmental transition in the transport sector is becoming a reality. "The European Commission has adopted the Fit for 55 legislative package, in line with the European Union's targets, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles by 55% by 2030 and 100% by 2050," confirms F. Beccarisi. "That means electrification is the future of mobility."
The requirement for more efficient and sustainable production of batteries and electric motors is undoubtedly one of the most important challenges facing businesses operating at various stages of the automotive and transport industry. "For the energy transition to be truly sustainable, it is not just the production of state-of-the-art electrification technologies that must be efficient, but the environmental impact at the end of the service life of the battery must be considered too," explains F. Beccarisi. That is why Comau has joined the "Battery Regeneration Project", which is supported by non-profit organisation Class and Cobat, a platform for circular economy services. The aim is to create an Italian supply chain for recycling and reusing lithium batteries.
The focus on sustainability has prompted Festo and Comau to address the important issue of recycling or reusing old batteries from electric vehicles. This is why Flexible Battery Dismantling (Flex-BD) was designed, which is all about "developing an automation solution for the automated disassembly of battery packs right down to the modules," explains F. Beccarisi. "The modules can be recycled by shredding them into black mass or reused to produce new batteries."
The project, for which Comau received the Innovation Award at the SMAU 2023, "aims to create a highly flexible station that can disassemble different types of batteries for electric vehicles," says C. Giovando. "It has brought together various European players, including Festo and Comau, to develop high-quality solutions for a more sustainable economy."
The Flex-BD station was created using various technologies from Festo, "from electromechanical actuators with motors and drives to certified MS6-SV safety valves with quick exhaust function, which ensure a system area is shut down in the event of an emergency," explains C. Giovando. These components were selected to facilitate format adjustment and automatically modify the positioning of the battery packs. "This led to the creation of an efficient and innovative station that can manage different types of battery packs and minimises the need for manual intervention."
The main feature of the station is its flexibility, which allows it to handle different types of battery packs and potentially be used by any manufacturer. "Furthermore, by using simple and innovative solutions the implementation and set-up costs as well as the cycle times have been significantly reduced. As a result, a greater number of components can be processed in the same amount of time," explains C. Giovando. "The station can also be used in the production phase for battery assembly, recovery or replacement of modules that have been identified as defective to ensure that the end product supplied is an efficient battery pack."
"The solutions used in Flex-BD include VTUG solenoid valves, which offer fast switching times, low energy consumption and high flow rates in a lightweight and compact design. This makes them eminently suitable for use in flexible automation and robotics applications," continues C. Giovando. "These solutions are available in various communication bus languages, such as point-to-point, multipin and IO-Link®. The AP version, in particular, makes it possible to create a network with inline, star or tree topology that communicates with the customer PLC using the most common communication buses. "That's why we have installed CPX-AP-I with Profinet in the station. Its communication times are extremely fast, it enables up to 500 components to be connected, and the management of self-learning valves is also integrated. This significantly reduces and speeds up the work of the engineers."
Two axis types, the belt-driven ELGG and the ball screw-driven EGC, have also been integrated into this network to ensure precise positioning and to process modules of different sizes in the future. "Festo has chosen technologies and solutions that guarantee a high degree of flexibility and adaptability," confirms F. Beccarisi. One example is the pneumatic muscle DMSP, "which can provide high forces without mechanical components that move back and forth," explains C. Giovando. "At certain points, the muscle allowed us to quickly compensate for tolerances and play in the battery packs, which led to significant time savings in the cycle." This solution also simulated "human behaviour when gripping the battery module to ensure the gripper and robot are correctly coupled. That way, a connected module can be released by applying an impulse force without causing errors in the robot due to the application of force," states F. Beccarisi. "In addition, thanks to electric motors from Festo, the module grippers can be reconfigured. This is important, as different workpieces need to be gripped when dismantling a battery, and these can have different sizes caused by mechanical and thermal deformations during their service life."
This project "emphasised the ability of both companies to solve complex problems with unpredictable scenarios," concludes F. Beccarisi. "This collaboration has highlighted how technology is crucial for developing and adopting sustainable and resource-efficient practices,in the industrial sector too. This is an approach that enables businesses to use natural resources more efficiently, reduce energy consumption and waste, and help protect the planet for current and future generations."
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