Laser technology helps refine automotive design
Ford Motor Co has announced it is to invest approximately $100million in robotic laser technology in a bid to overcome problems when doors are manually installed and reduce wind noise outside the vehicle.
A laser guided robotic camera takes a photo of any small gaps in door seals and calculates minor adjustments to ensure it fits correctly. At the end of the production process, another robot with laser beams measures all gaps to evaluate the fit, and stops the assembly line of it detects a door that doesn't reach quality guidelines.
The system was developed by Ford and US based Gonzalez Design Group and took around eight months to complete.
The system can verify dimensions in more than 500 sections of a car as it is being assembled, with precision measurement to a tenth of a millimetre.
Ford will initially install the technology at plants that manufacture the 2012 Focus and Explorer SUV, but eventually plans to roll out to 17 assembly plants around the world.
