Robots, made by Hexagon Robotics, will be used to work in BMW car production soon and they are in a test at the Leipzig factory. The cost of robots has fallen while it remains expensive to redesign the assembly line. As a result, it's more cost-effective to use robots that fit in with existing human processes.
Named Aeon, the Hexagon robot is shaped like a person and stands 1.65m (5ft 5in) tall, weighing 60kg (9 stone 6lbs). They have a top speed of 2.4m/second and can carry 15kg for short periods, or 8kg continuously. Aeon is equipped with 21 sensors including cameras, radar, a microphone, and force and torque sensors for manipulation.
At BMW the robots were trained using a combination of teleoperation (sensors on humans) and simulation in a digital twin of the factory using software from Nvidia. The robot in the simulation was given a task and repeatedly simulated it to identify the most promising solutions, an approach called reinforcement learning. Teleoperation was used for tasks such as picking up a part, so the physical robot could learn the range of different ways a human can perform.
The training of robots is undergoing rapid development, the quicker you can train a robot the better. One of the most exciting aspects of the application of AI to the physical world (physical AI) is imitation learning. That is where the robot learns how to do a task by looking at how the task is done, either using videos from multiple angles or movement sensors on the human. Robert says imitation learning can cut the time taken to train the robot from lasting months to days.
Aeon only has a battery life of three hours, but a shift lasts for eight hours, so the robot has been designed to swap its own battery in about three minutes, including travelling to and from the charging station. The robots' jobs at BMW will be to feed parts to manufacturing tools and to carry out pick-and-place tasks for battery assembly. Although robots are multi-functional, they, like factory workers, are not expected to change their tasks frequently.
Toyota for example, plans to use Digit humanoid robots from Agility Robotics following a successful trial. China's Xiaomi has tested two of its own humanoid robots in electric vehicle production.
Hyundai is using Spot robots for industrial inspection and says it aims to use Atlas humanoid robots, both made by Boston Dynamics in which Hyundai is a majority shareholder.
BMW has already had some experience using humanoid robots in Spartanburg, US, where the Figure O2 robot has helped to build 30,000 model X3 cars. It worked at the same pace as a human.
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