Automation in Automobile Industry

 

The automotive industry has a long history of automation. Automakers used industrial robots and sensor technology in their assembly plants to boost productivity and efficiency before most other industries looked towards automation as a solution. What function does automation currently serve in the automobile sector, and what might the future hold?

Source- https://www.theautomonitor.com

How Automation is Influencing the Automotive Industry Today

Robot orders increased last year compared to the year before by 67%. Additionally, one out of every two industrial robots sold internationally, according to the International Federation of Robotics, is purchased by US automakers. This demonstrates how highly the auto industry values the advantages of automation.

Automakers have always been leaders in automation; to boost productivity and efficiency, they began utilizing industrial robots and sensor technology in their assembly plants years ago.

 

Factory Automation

Nearly every stage of car manufacture uses some level of automation in the majority of automotive facilities. A variety of operations, including welding, assembly, inspection, and testing, are completed by robots, machine vision, and automation working together.

But not every automaker employs the same degree of automation. Some QA and compliance management strategies rely on partially manual processes that automate simple tasks while leaving final decision-making to humans. Others employ a single automated machine to carry out a specific task or group several automated machines together to create a production line that moves the product from machine to machine.

 

Automated Decision Making

Data usage has evolved significantly. It can be an excellent tool for making predictions about the future or for comprehending current events as they happen. Data is now used in the automotive sector to offer insights that can, without human interaction, result in prompt actions and wise judgments.

With the right sensors fitted into the engine, a car becomes a supercomputer on wheels. A driver can be promptly informed when a part needs to be replaced. 

 

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI plays an important role in today’s automotive industry. Some estimates suggest that the automotive AI market size is forecasted to grow to $27 billion by 2025, which is double than today’s size. AI has revolutionized the automotive industry in a drastic manner. AI focuses on three main areas in automobile industry:

·       Accident prevention

·       In-car assistance

·       Predictive maintenance

From industrial duties like design and production to service professions like insurance and predictive maintenance, AI is used throughout the whole automotive value chain. However, one of the most fascinating uses of AI today is in transportation, where it powers the creation of driverless vehicles and driver assistance systems.

 

Positive Impact

·       Production has been efficient and has given businessmen and women hundreds of times more profits and satisfaction since automation was introduced. Robots are being used in the assembly and joining of various parts to create moving cars. Because of this, fewer workers are required to create the same quantity of produced items, which has increased the displacement of conventional occupations.

·       Automation makes it possible for businesses to produce things at cheaper costs, and it has significantly increased the economic scale importance of sectors that demand substantial capital expenditure.

·       Automated cars provide driver 360⁰ vision of environment which results in lesser accidents on road.

·       Provides higher traffic efficiency. Although it is estimated that their speed in big cities will be lower, their traffic efficiency will be higher.

 

Negative Impact

·       Every situation in life has advantages and disadvantages, and one of the negative economic effects of automation in the car industry is that it does not result in a net increase in jobs, even though some jobs will be created manufacturing new tools. New employment will, however, always be eliminated by the use of new tools.

·       Automation in car manufacturing requires huge capital investment and the return benefits may take several years to take place.

·       There are also several environmental impacts that this automation can bring. Air pollution, water contamination, land pollution are some of the severe hazards of this automation in automobile industry.

Contributors:

34. Mayuri Kulkarni

38. Manish Panwar

68. Utkarsh wath