In this project another student and I were tasked with programming two ABB robots to disassemble parts of an electric‑vehicle battery in UiA’s robotics lab. My part was programming the robots to pick and place tools, unscrew bolts, and pick up and move the modules that contain the battery cells.
We used two six‑axis ABB robots mounted on linear tracks. One student used a camera to detect and locate the bolt positions. I handled programming the robots’ movements. Since the robots were ABB models, I programmed them in RAPID. I wrote the program so that when it received the bolt positions, the robot would attach the unscrewing tool, move to each detected position, and remove the bolts. After unscrewing, the robot would put the unscrewing tool back, attach a lifting tool to the battery module, lift the module, and place it at a drop‑off point.
An important part of the project was collecting force data from a sensor on the robot so we could better pick up and place the modules. The robot would travel to a module, press the tool down until it detected a given force value, then lift the module using the lifting tool. When placing the module, the robot only released it once it detected a sufficient force indicating the module was properly supported. This ensured the robot didn’t drop the module before it was securely in place.
We repeated the procedure many times to make sure it worked reliably, and by the end the robots rarely failed to disassemble the intended components. I learned to structure and program ABB robots in RAPID and applied theoretical skills from my studies.