Battery Recycling and Automating Circular Economies (BRACE) Lab

blue robot arm unscrews bolts in an electric vehicle battery
Updated:

Battery Recycling and Automating Circular Economies Lab (BRACE)

The BRACE Lab addresses challenges of disassembling and reusing or remanufacturing lithium-ion batteries and electric grid power electronics. This research incorporates automation, advanced diagnostics, and hardware-software integration to extend the useful life of equipment or reuse valuable constituents to reduce costs, build domestic supply chains, and enhance electric grid energy storage capacity.

Limited recycling opportunities exist for these complex systems, so there is a need to develop technology that can safely and efficiently disassemble and extract the valuable components, critical materials and rare earth minerals. The automation equipment in this lab enables the development of processes focused on safe and efficient methods for disassembly, reuse, and remanufacturing.  

EV batteries on a remote-controlled portable platform plugged into electrical equipment in a lab

Uniqueness and capabilities:

  • Developing novel disassembly tools and processes to maximize value recovery from end-of-life products containing valuable components and materials.
  • Integrating machine vision systems and industrial automation tools to autonomously defeat joining mechanisms such as screws, welds, adhesives, etc.
  • Advancing battery diagnostics by developing new characterization tools and techniques in addition to sensors on the battery pack, module, and cell level.
  • Developing secondary use energy storage systems from extracted modules and cells for grid and residential energy storage.
Blue robot arm, taller than a man, with screwdriver attachment, in a multi-story lab

Technology resources:

  • Automated disassembly research platform including:
    • Autonomous guided vehicle for dynamic transportation of parts.
    • 165kg payload, 6-axis industrial robot arm.
    • Custom disassembly tooling and machine vision.
    • 20kg payload, 7-axis industrial robot arm.
  • Precision metrology station including coordinate-measuring machine and vision systems.
  • Material characterization station to rapidly identify extracted materials.
  • Electronics machining station testbed for evaluating screw extraction.
  • 32 cubic foot environmental chamber for cycling lithium-ion modules and cells.
  • Electrochemical Testbed: Detailed diagnostic capabilities for battery cells, groups and modules including cycling, and impedance spectroscopy
  • Diagnostic tools for battery pack characterization and analysis