--- title: How a Smart Recycling Robot Dismantles Old Devices description: Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a robotic disassembly system that can autonomously take apart broken robots and... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/how-a-smart-recycling-robot-dismantles-old-devices-maocwnkta twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: How a Smart Recycling Robot Dismantles Old Devices | daily.dev og:description: Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a robotic disassembly system that can autonomously take apart broken robots and... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/how-a-smart-recycling-robot-dismantles-old-devices-maocwnkta og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/MaOcwNKTA.png og:image:alt: How a Smart Recycling Robot Dismantles Old Devices og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # How a Smart Recycling Robot Dismantles Old Devices **[IEEE Spectrum](https://daily.dev/sources/ieeespectrum)** · 5 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a robotic disassembly system that can autonomously take apart broken robots and devices. The system uses a predictive algorithm combined with CAD models to guess how a device is broken, then directs robotic manipulators to disassemble it while protecting valuable components. It continuously checks results against predictions and adapts — for example, switching from unscrewing to milling when a screw is stuck. The goal is to enable a circular economy where broken devices are repaired and repurposed rather than discarded, ultimately making repair cheaper than manufacturing new products. The research was presented at ICRA 2026 in Vienna. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How does the KIT robotic disassembly system figure out what's wrong with a broken device before taking it apart? It combines a CAD model of the device with a mathematical model of expected part behavior, then nudges each part to see if it moves along its expected degrees of freedom. Deviations reveal the fault: a corroded part moves less than expected, a loose screw moves more, and a deformed part shows different degrees of freedom than its CAD model predicts, letting the system adjust its disassembly plan mid-process. _daily.dev surfaces robotics and automation research like this predictive disassembly approach for engineers tracking sustainable manufacturing._ ### What happens when a robotic disassembly system encounters a stuck screw it expected to unscrew normally? The system switches methods, moving from unscrewing to milling away the material to remove the part. This behavior comes from KIT's disassembly system, which checks at every stage whether observed part movement matches its prediction and updates its approach when a component doesn't behave as expected, such as a screw that stays fixed instead of rotating out. _Engineers building adaptive automation workflows can follow developments like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Robotic lab sets up and runs optics experiments on demand](https://daily.dev/posts/robotic-lab-sets-up-and-runs-optics-experiments-on-demand-2usto3skc) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Reimagining robotics for sustainability](https://daily.dev/posts/reimagining-robotics-for-sustainability-pnd62khiy) · Robohub · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Robotic Screw And Bolt Sorter Seeks A New Challenge](https://daily.dev/posts/robotic-screw-and-bolt-sorter-seeks-a-new-challenge-nhz3sujxj) · Hackaday · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [UK recycling firm deploys Chinese-built humanoid robot as waste sorting sector faces 40% annual staff turnover and 8x fatality rate](https://daily.dev/posts/uk-recycling-firm-deploys-chinese-built-humanoid-robot-as-waste-sorting-sector-faces-40-annual-staf-xpn8eocuf) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#automation](https://daily.dev/tags/automation), [#computer-vision](https://daily.dev/tags/computer-vision), [#robotics](https://daily.dev/tags/robotics) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/how-a-smart-recycling-robot-dismantles-old-devices-maocwnkta) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"How a Smart Recycling Robot Dismantles Old Devices","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-a-smart-recycling-robot-dismantles-old-devices-maocwnkta","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-a-smart-recycling-robot-dismantles-old-devices-maocwnkta"},"datePublished":"2026-08-10T19:41:09.222Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T08:19:52.861Z","description":"Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a robotic disassembly system that can autonomously take apart broken robots and...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/aff0817eb110fad35fb6dcfc497f335f?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/aff0817eb110fad35fb6dcfc497f335f?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"IEEE Spectrum","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"IEEE Spectrum","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/b123f5e8420e492ab36f6adb30c1793a","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/ieeespectrum"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-a-smart-recycling-robot-dismantles-old-devices-maocwnkta","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"automation,computer-vision,robotics","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"IEEE Spectrum","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/ieeespectrum"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How a Smart Recycling Robot Dismantles Old Devices"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-a-smart-recycling-robot-dismantles-old-devices-maocwnkta#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How does the KIT robotic disassembly system figure out what's wrong with a broken device before taking it apart?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"It combines a CAD model of the device with a mathematical model of expected part behavior, then nudges each part to see if it moves along its expected degrees of freedom. Deviations reveal the fault: a corroded part moves less than expected, a loose screw moves more, and a deformed part shows different degrees of freedom than its CAD model predicts, letting the system adjust its disassembly plan mid-process. daily.dev surfaces robotics and automation research like this predictive disassembly approach for engineers tracking sustainable manufacturing."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What happens when a robotic disassembly system encounters a stuck screw it expected to unscrew normally?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The system switches methods, moving from unscrewing to milling away the material to remove the part. This behavior comes from KIT's disassembly system, which checks at every stage whether observed part movement matches its prediction and updates its approach when a component doesn't behave as expected, such as a screw that stays fixed instead of rotating out. Engineers building adaptive automation workflows can follow developments like this on daily.dev."}}]} ```