Robots are essential parts of the automotive manufacturing industry. They are used for tasks that require high precision or tasks that are too hard for humans. Many robots are used for painting and welding in automobile factories around the world. Changan Ford Automobile Co. Ltd. has a large number of robots at its plants in Chongqing, Hangzhou, and Harbin.
The Changan Ford Automobile factory awarded a contract to a company called ABB in 2015 to install complete body-in-white welding line to help build Ford Focus cars. The contract was for $52 million. The line features many large IRB 6700 and IRB 7600 six-axis robots along with advanced systems for laser welding, car body positioning and conveying, and door and roof manufacturing.
The Changan Ford Automobile factory IRB 6700 robots have a payload capacity of 150 to 200 kg and can reach from 2.6 to 3.2 meters making them ideal for spot welding, material handling, and machine tending applications. There are ten models in that robot series, and they can be floor mounted or inverted and offer an uptime rating of 400,000 hours between failures.
The IRB 7600 Robots have a payload of 150 to 630 kg and have high torque, and acceleration capabilities while being durable enough for harsh environments and have short cycle times. Along with those bots, the factory also uses the GateFramer positioning system that can produce up to six vehicle models on the same line with only 18 seconds needed to change between models.
The Changan Ford Automobile factory also uses the FlexTrack material handling tracks and FlexLifter vertical lifters. The track can handle up to 3,000 kg and can accelerate fast and position parts accurately. Modern automotive factories would be much less efficient without robots. Ford is ramping production of Lincoln vehicles inside China and will be putting robots to work.
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Source: AssemblyMag
Comment
My car with 0 km has a problem with water infiltration after it rains, driving problems making a few bangs when I turn the steering wheel, a damaged reversing camera and nobody solves the problem, claiming that Ford says it’s normal. is 2 years old and 12000 KM
Ford Fiestas with around 15,000 or not even 1 year of use have chronic driving problems. Making a loud noise when turning the steering wheel (it sounds like a turn signal on)
In Portugal, on the Facebook page Ford Fanatics in Portugal, there are dozens of videos and hundreds of comments about this problem and already reported to Ford, in which he simply dismisses the responsibility and says that it is a problem that is already recognized (not only in Fiesta but on almost all models) but not important.
the Workshops do not want and do not know how to solve the problem, they say it is normal, but one or another in Portugal, where there are hundreds, accept to solve the problem.
This problem is exhausting and shameful because the current Ford owners (where they spent a lot of money) and I write to be a warning to new buyers to avoid buying these rotten cars…
These are not new cars, they are old cars as they spend more time in the repair shops than old cars from other brands with less problems.