Ford installs team of collaborative robots on Fiesta assembly line

Automaker Ford has for the first time introduced a team of collaborative robots that works alongside engineers in Cologne, Germany, to ensure every Ford Fiesta has a perfect finish. The six cobots complete a choreographed sequence to sand the entire body surface in just 35 seconds. The initiative does not replace employees but allows operators to use their time on more complex tasks and avoid suffering the strains associated with performing repetitive tasks. Dennis Kuhn, senior manufacturing engineer, paint shop, Ford of Europe, says: "The cobots can feel when more force needs to be applied, just like we can, and they can more easily get to hard-to-reach places, like the centre of the roof." Each cobot is a UR10, the world's best-selling cobot, from Universal Robots, the kind that is also used in the audio equipment industry to polish high‑performance loudspeakers and subwoofers.