Robotics Assembly

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SPARTANBURG, SC—BMW is constructing a 527,000-square-foot body shop at its assembly plant here. The facility will include more than 650 robots.

Greater use of aluminum and other lightweight materials is increasing demand for structural blind rivets.

Designing an automated, inline system to perform final quality inspection of a large or complicated assembly can be tricky.

Vision-guided SCARA robot picks and places delicate ceramic parts.

BEREA, OH—Standby Screw Machine Products Co. here is using two collaborative robots for packaging, machine tending and other operations.

SANTA ANA, CA—Ascent Aerospace has been awarded a contract to design and build the final assembly station for the Airbus Beluga XL jet. The Beluga is an A330 modified to transport large aerostructure components from Airbus supplier facilities.

ZURICH—ABB Ltd. has received a $52 million order to supply welding robots for Ford Motor Co.’s assembly plant in Harbin, China.

BAUNATAL, Germany—A robot accidentally killed a worker at Volkswagen’s automotive assembly plant here. The robot pressed the worker up against a metal plate, crushing his chest.

Back in February, Terry Gou, founder and chairman of contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group, said he hopes to automate 70 percent of the company's assembly operations within three years.

ROCHESTER HILLS, MI—FANUC America Corp. has introduced a new six-axis collaborative robot, the CR-35iA, which can carry a payload of 35 kilograms.