Connecting Heterogeneous Re-X Technologies: Why Interoperability Matters in Circular Manufacturing

Connecting Heterogeneous Re-X Technologies: Why Interoperability Matters in Circular Manufacturing

Circular economy practices, including dismantling, remanufacturing, repair and recycling, are increasingly important aspects of modern manufacturing. Unlike traditional production lines, Re-X processes are not highly predictable and repeatable. After their first life, products differ significantly in condition, geometry, material composition, damage level and available lifecycle information. This requires robotic and AI-enabled systems to be able to adapt to changing product states and process requirements, making automation more demanding. 
Significant progress has been made by the industry in recent years, as collaborative robots, mobile manipulators, vision systems, AI-based planning tools, digital twins and data-driven decision-support systems have been introduced. These technologies are separate modules, with different data formats, interfaces and assumptions. This results in a new barrier: even when individual technologies are advanced, their impact is limited to what the weakest link of the wider production workflow allows for. If they cannot exchange information, synchronize actions and operate as a cohesive system, then the weakest link is interoperability. 
Within ROB4GREEN interoperability is considered as a central enabler that allows heterogeneous Re-X technologies, software modules and industrial systems to communicate reliably, support coordinated decision-making and move from isolated prototypes towards integrated circular manufacturing solutions. Through this path, the project aims to address Re-X challenges by developing AI-driven collaborative robotic systems for greener dismantling, remanufacturing and recycling.

“How can AI, robotics and data systems work together when every Re-X process is different?” ” 

Interoperability is the ability of different software modules, robotic systems and industrial platforms to exchange information and use it meaningfully. Within ROB4GREEN, possessing such an ability requires enabling AI planners, digital twins, perception modules, decision-support tools, human-facing interfaces and robotic resources to operate as parts of a connected Re-X workflow.

Interoperable software interfaces help ROB4GREEN move from individual prototypes to integrated solutions for greener dismantling, remanufacturing and recycling.

The open communication and interfacing approach of ROB4GREEN addresses interoperability by supporting the integration of heterogeneous technologies across the project’s Re-X workflows. The main aim of the approach is to define how different modules can exchange information through clear interfaces and communication patterns without assuming that all components use the same programming language, protocol or data model. This is especially important because the ROB4GREEN system combines several types of technologies. Perception modules may process sensor data from cameras, 3D vision systems or other inspection devices to understand the state of a product or workspace. This information may then be used by AI-based planning and decision-making modules, together with digital twin data and process constraints, to decide which task should be performed next and by which resource. These decisions may then be translated into instructions that are understandable for operators, while robotic resources execute specific actions in the physical environment.
The role of the integration and communication layer is to help these modules work together as part of the same operational flow. An indicative example involves perception results that need to become available to planning modules, planning outputs that need to be communicated to execution systems, execution status that needs to be reported back so that the workflow can react to interruptions and failures or changing shopfloor conditions. This requires interface definition, data exchange, status monitoring and coordination between components developed by different partners. 
The open communication architecture and interfacing work led by INTRA contributes to this effort. The aim is to enable both horizontal integration between components at similar levels and vertical integration with higher-level industrial systems by supporting flexible, robust and open communication between software modules and external production systems. 

Interoperable interfaces reduce integration barriers, helping ROB4GREEN technologies move from isolated modules toward coordinated circular manufacturing workflows.