Robotic Cable Manipulation for Automated Disassembly and Recycling

Institute

TUM Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (Institut)

Type

Master's Thesis / Student Job /

Content

experimental / theoretical /  

Description

Topic Overview
We offer a Master’s thesis (or research-oriented HiWi thesis) on robotic manipulation of electrical cables for automated recycling tasks. The project focuses on perception, planning, control, and system-level integration for structured cable sorting scenarios on real robot hardware.

Project Scope

• 3D Cable Perception
  Point cloud-based cable segmentation, grasp-point and cut-point detection, and identification of separable vs. entangled cable configurations.
• Motion Planning
  Collision-aware planning with joint limits and tension-aware execution for safe manipulation of deformable cables.
• Task Strategy Design
  Design of a state machine or behavior tree for multi-step cable sorting, targeting scenarios with at least five partially entangled cables.
• Force / Tension-Aware Skills
  Development of local cable interaction controllers, e.g., tension-constrained manipulation and safety-aware execution strategies.
• ROS 2 System Integration
  Integration of perception, planning, and sensing modules within a modular ROS 2 architecture.

 

Requirements

Candidate Profile

Background in robotics, mechatronics, or control. Experience with ROS1/ 2, motion planning, robot perception, or manipulation is expected. Familiarity with deformable object handling or robot arm is beneficial.

What We Offer

Work on real robotic platforms within an active European research project on automated cable recycling. Opportunity to contribute to publishable results targeting major robotics venues.

How to apply

Please send application including your CV, transcript to Mr. Li, yu.li(at)tum.de and Dr. Sadeghian, hamid.sadeghian(at)tum.de.

Reference

• Zhang X, Domae Y, Wan W, et al. A closed-loop bin picking system for entangled wire harnesses using bimanual and dynamic manipulation[J]. Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, 2024, 86: 102670.
• O. Holešovský, R. Škoviera and V. Hlaváč, "Interactive Robotic Moving Cable Segmentation by Motion Correlation," in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 10, no. 7, pp. 7420-7427, July 2025, doi: 10.1109/LRA.2025.3574960.
• Shivakumar K, Viswanath V, Gu A, et al. Sgtm 2.0: Autonomously untangling long cables using interactive perception[J]. arXiv preprint arXiv:2209.13706, 2022.

Possible start

sofort

Contact

Yu Li, M.Sc.
yu.litum.de