A General Framework for a Sampling-Based Planning Approach to Disassembly Sequence Planning

Abstract

We present a framework for disassembly sequence planning. This framework is versatile, allowing different types of search schemes (exhaustive vs. preemptive), various part separation techniques, and the ability to group parts into subassemblies to improve solution efficiency and parallelism. This enables a truly hierarchical approach to disassembly sequence planning. Several implementations of the framework are in place, and perform better than existing state-of-the-art methods. Not only does the framework identify the necessary components for a successful disassembly planner, it will help in the analysis of problems and what kind of solvers are most effective in different scenarios. The framework also supports the ability to plan for a manipulator while planning the disassembly sequence itself. Currently, this means planning for a simple manipulator arm to carry out the disassembly plan generated by the framework. This is done by first placing and validating the manipulator’s end effector along all of the motions of each subassembly removed from the assembly, and then finding valid placements for the rest of the manipulator. The motions of the manipulator itself are left for future work, though valid placements for the manipulator are still found as a final step.