CAREER: Integrated Digital Thread for Self-Evolving Cooperative Robotics Remanufacturing

NSF Award Search · 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT · $509,434 · view on nsf.gov ↗

Abstract

Remanufacturing restores worn or damaged products to like-new performance, extending the life of high-value assets while reducing dependency on costly replacements and lowering supply chain vulnerability. Many repairs still depend on technician judgment that is difficult to document and is increasingly at risk as experienced workers retire faster than replacements can be trained. Although robots offer the potential to alleviate workforce shortages, today’s programmed automation is largely limited to repetitive operations and cannot replicate human-level reasoning and adaptability required to manage the unique geometries, uncertain damage states, and evolving conditions inherent to repair workflows. This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project aims to create scientific and educational foundations for an integrated digital thread framework that enables autonomous, self-evolving cooperative robotic systems capable of additive repair. This project advances remanufacturing by moving from programmed automation toward cognitive automation, creating intelligent systems that leverage expert knowledge and continuously adapt to perform unique, customized operations across all remanufacturing steps. Further, this project will broaden participation through curriculum modules at the University of Connecticut, hands-on research and mentoring, summer programs with local schools and community colleges, and workforce development activities for manufacturers and small businesses. The overall research goal is to establish a mind-body-environment loop that integrates knowledge-based reasoning, physics-informed embodied interaction, and continuous environment-loop adaptation, to support adaptive repair actions and scalable deployment across emerging remanufacturing applications. Specific objectives include: (1) Develop a self-evolving, memory-augmented planning module to sense, diagnose, identify, and learn what processes are needed for the repair task, enabling generalizabl

Key facts

NSF award ID
2543603
Awardee
University of Connecticut (CT)
SAM.gov UEI
WNTPS995QBM7
PI
Farhad Imani
Primary program
01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
All programs
CAREER-Faculty Erly Career Dev, GRADUATE EDUCATION, WORKFORCE, Manufacturing, TOOLS & TECHNOL FOR MANUFACTURING DESIGN, UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION
Estimated total
$509,434
Funds obligated
$509,434
Transaction type
Standard Grant
Period
08/01/2026 → 07/31/2031