Basic behaviour control of the vision-based cognitive robotic disassembly automation

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop an automated disassembly cell that is flexible and robust to the physical variations of a product. In this way it is capable of dealing with any model of product, regardless of the level of detail in the supplied information. Design/methodology/approach - The concept of cognitive robotics is used to replicate human level expertise in terms of perception and decision making. As a result, difficulties with respect to the uncertainties and variations of the product in the disassembly process are resolved. Findings - Cognitive functions, namely reasoning and execution monitoring, can be used in basic behaviour control to address problems in variations of the disassembly process due to variations in the product's structure particularly across different models of the product. Research limitations/implications - The paper provides a practical approach to formulating the disassembly domain and behaviour control of the cognitive robotic agent via a high-level logical programming language that combines domain-specific heuristic knowledge with search to deal with variations in products and uncertainties that arise during the disassembly process. Practical implications - Full disassembly automation that is flexible and robust to the uncertainties that may arise potentially replaces human labour in a difficult and hazardous task. Consequently, the disassembly process will be more economically feasible, especially in developed countries. Originality/value - The paper provides a practical approach to the basic cognitive functions that replicate the human expert's behaviour to the disassembly cell.