The automated wheel removal

Automotive industry production is characterized by a high degree of automation in vehicle assembly.
Vehicle dismantling is a task that vehicle manufacturers will have to deal with intensively in the future as part of the desired circular economy.

One initial application for automation is wheel dismantling:
At first glance, dismantling wheels appears simple, but it requires the highest precision and process reliability.
IBG is making an important contribution to this with the world's first robot-assisted and fully automated wheel dismantling system.
The self-developed omnidirectional AGV moves a connected industrial disassembly robot into the appropriate position. It is equipped with independent camera systems on the gripper. The AGV platform has a modular design and features all common interfaces.

The wheel disassembly process is as follows:

First, a vision system identifies the wheel to be removed—including wheel type, position, rotational position, and removal height—based on IBG software developed specifically for this application.
A particular challenge here is the cross-manufacturer recognition of widely varying wheel locks.
The vision system then records the precise spatial position of the bolts, the number of bolts, and determines the pitch circle diameter. This data is used to respond flexibly to different pitch circle diameters of different rims.

With the help of the patented removal tool, the robot removes the mounted wheel bolts one after the other.

In addition, backup strategies for stuck wheels have been developed to achieve a high level of process reliability.