An improved multi-objective discrete bees algorithm for robotic disassembly line balancing problem in remanufacturing

Remanufacturing is an effective way to realize the reutilization of resources. Disassembly, as an essential step of remanufacturing, is usually finished by manual work which is low efficiency and high labor cost. Robotic disassembly provides an alternative way to reduce labor intensity and disassembly cost. Disassembly line is an efficient method to deal with end-of-life products on a large scale. Balancing the workload of robotic workstations is the main objective of robotic disassembly line balancing problem. In this paper, an improved multi-objective discrete bees algorithm is proposed to solve robotic disassembly line balancing problem. The feasible disassembly sequence is obtained by space interference matrix method. It is used to generate robotic disassembly line solution by robotic workstation assignment method. After that, the multi-objective robotic disassembly line balancing problem is proposed. With the help of efficient non-dominated Pareto sorting method, the improved multi-objective discrete bees algorithm is proposed to find Pareto optimal solutions. Based on a gear pump and a camera, the performance of the improved multi-objective discrete bees algorithm is analyzed under different parameters and compared with the other optimization algorithms. In addition, Pareto fronts of robotic disassembly line balancing problem are also compared with those of the other two cases. The result shows the proposed method can find better solutions using comparable running time compared with the other optimization algorithms.