Robotics has found a major application in the United States since time immemorial. There has been a lot of developments and growth in the technologies application (Helper, 2008). One of the leading industries in robotics use in the United States is the automotive industry. One of the oldest users of robotics on automotives is General Motors (GM) Company. GM’s influence on the development of various robots cannot be over-emphasized. The company has made the robotics use revolutionary. Robotics has been used in the automotive industry especially in welding, painting, assembly and stamping. In car and vehicle factories, these activities have been made efficient through robotics.
The motor vehicle industry has faced a lot of challenges with the use of humans in making required cuts from metals (Takeisi, 2002). As a result, the automotive industry has employed the use of robotics for purposes of precision cutting. Even when gas cutting was to be applied, robotics use produced fantastic results. Laser cutting has also been further developed with the use of robotics machines. In the mounting process for circuits, robotics has been used to provide the accuracy that is required. In order to mount these circuits on the electronic car devices, the use of robotics has been inevitable.
With the clumsy nature of the automotive industry, a lot of risks are involved. There are some sections of the industry that are too dangerous for human beings to co-exist. As a result, robotics has worked very well in such areas that could have dangers and safety threats to human beings. They have also been used in detecting failures in materials for making vehicles or checking failure within car systems. Therefore, robotic-assisted checks have been found excellent. These robotic-assisted checks have been useful to counter the effects of movements and little jiggles of the manufacturer’s hand when carrying out very delicate procedures in the workshop (Schneider, 2005).
Automotive manufacturing industry is characterized by repetitive procedures and steps especially in the painting and assembly lines. For painting and ensuring uniform spray, robotics has surpassed the accuracy of human beings. Therefore, automotive manufacturers in the United States have found it efficacious to use robotics in the place of human beings to paint car body parts and their accessories (International Federation of Robotics – IFR, 2012). Again, robotics has been useful in helping safeguard the health of human beings. In the spray chambers, human beings could breathe in the harmful chemicals that could consequently affect their health. Moreover, it saves the stress of wearing respirators, working in intense heat conditions and other similar conditions that could be hazardous to human beings.
Automotive assembly procedures are repetitive steps that could cause lethargy and fatigue to human beings. These effects could result into inefficiency and accidents in the workshop. Again, the efficiency of human beings would normally decrease with time while that of robotics is constant and can guarantee constant rate of production (Takeisi, 2002). Owing to these facts, robotics has been very useful in the assembly of car and vehicle body parts like wheels, doors among others. A lot of developments have been realized in the assembly section of motor vehicles because of the robotics use.
A lot of communication in the automotive manufacturing industry is also done through robotic installations. Failures within the systems are always relayed through robotic networks. Mail delivery to a number of work stations all through the buildings has easily been done through robotics. Robotics follow routes highlighted with ultra-violet paint. This has promoted efficiency and easy relay of messages within different departments of operations making the entire manufacturing process successful and very effective. Robotics has also been employed to carry out routine checks making a closer look than human beings would. Robotics control has also been useful in the production floors for test purposes.
Automotive industry in the United States uses robotics as an artificial agent to carry out operations where human function would be less effective and dangerous. Robots explore automotive industry sections where human beings cannot reach, and at the same time they do things which may seem to be harmful for human beings, such as welding, spraying and may be assembly of large heavy parts (Takeisi, 2002). For the assembly plant section, the placement of electronic components is the work of robotics. Robotics takes small items from reels and bins and places them on circuit boards of some vehicle electronic units.
Robotics has wide application in moving heavy materials in, within and out of the car manufacturing workshops. The lifting of huge vehicle parts, cars and trucks has been effectively done with the use of robotics. Generally in automotive manufacturing industries, companies have used robots to assist in making stuff, quick and high quality control checks. The quality of products in automotive industry has been largely improved by the way of using robots. For quality control checks, the robots are fitted with high resolution cameras to sort parts quality.
Marketing has played a significant role in the performance of activities that direct the flow of products from the manufacturer to the customer. For automotive industry, robots have been very useful in marketing vehicles and vehicle products like the Honda Robot. This way, robots have been able to persuade buyers to consider buying these automotive products. There have been great developments in this field and the results have been useful in propelling the vision and objectives of the industry. A robot is an intelligent work of art which functional capabilities give human beings the hope of lessening their life stress.
Research and development function in automotive industry has also been made possible through robotics. Finding out what they are capable of doing has increased the scope of functionality. The automotive industry has also been using robotics to make toys meant for children. Robots have mainly been used to guide toy controls and enhance the performance of toys to satisfy children’s curiosity and needs. The use of robots in this area cannot be overlooked because it has played a very significant role in the industry especially when car prototypes and large vehicles are to be manufactured and tested. Those spot welding works on cars have been easily attainable using robots that have been hand trained.
Basically, automotive industries have employed the use of robots because car manufacturing involves a lot of tedious and repetitive work. While humans can do such tasks, they cannot be said to enjoy every bit of it. Such works can cause nerve and muscle disorders or tendonitis due to muscle fatigue and strain. Robots take on these challenges to avert the consequences of repetitive tasks in an automotive industry. While human beings can well adapt to multifaceted, creative and adaptive duties, robots are useful for wearisome repetitive tasks (Schneider, 2005). Therefore, humans in automotive industry only do the work that involves a lot of thinking, thus lessening their duties through the use of robots. It would be correct to say that robots have been used to replace human beings for work in the automotive industry in America so that life can be quite convenient.
Industrial robots in the American automotive industry have drastically changed manufacturing processes. These modern industrial automotive robots have offered a lot advantages. They have been useful in transforming products, the manufacturing companies and allied facilities single-handedly. Developments in the recent past and especially in the United States automotive industry have made robots more user-friendly, intelligent and affordable than it was the case earlier. Robots in automotive industries have been used to change products. They usually carry out applications with precision, consistency and accuracy needed to produce perfect designs. The quality of automotive products has improved with time owing to the inception of robotics in the manufacturing processes. Quality cars and vehicle products have changed the image and diversified largely because it has been possible to attain high precision, finishing and accuracy to meet different needs. This has only been possible with the use of robots. It is an innovative idea that has helped the automotive industry in this sense.
Robots have also been useful in the alteration of the environment. Employees in automotive industries no longer have to go through hazardous, dull or difficult tasks. Toxic substances have been carefully handled through robotic operations. Such activities as lifting and selecting items/products without stopping or tiring in automotive industry have been possible with the use of robots. With the many risky processes of welding, heavy vehicle parts lifting and carriage in automotive industry, robots have performed well in reducing waste and accidents in workshops (Takeisi, 2002). Automotive companies have thus saved a lot of money as a result.
The application of robots in automotive industry has also not gone without having a positive development in employee skills. A lot of workers in vehicle manufacturing companies have adopted other skills and task as it is evident in programming which is a very important part of robotic operations and control. Robots have generally led to increased manufacturing productivity of vehicles, and production costs reduced significantly (International Federation of Robotics – IFR, 2012). Control of management has also increased proportionally. Therefore, automotive industry has got a lot of benefits from robots.
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