BMW Factory Humans & Robots Work Together At Dingolfing Plant

As early as 2013, the BMW Group commissioned a first lightweight robot that took its place among the workers at the assembly line of BMW Group Plant Spartanburg in the USA. Miss Charlotte, as the line crew calls their robot, is still in use mounting sound insulation to doors, but many things have changed since. Today, over 40 lightweight robots are in use at the BMW Group plants; a total of 60 will be in operation by mid-year. They assume tasks that would be physically strenuous for workers and often pose particular challenges due to the high level of precision required and the repetitiveness involved.

At BMW Group Plant Dingolfing, for instance, a ceiling-mounted lightweight robot in the axle transmission assembly lifts the bevel gears, which may weigh up to 5.5 kilos, and fits them accurately without any risk of damage to the gear wheels. In this production area, workers and robots work together “hand in hand” in a confined space without any safety fences. This collaboration gives people extra time to carry out tasks better suited to their capabilities while the lightweight robot applies exactly the force needed over a long period of time. Safety sensors monitor the functions at all times and stop the process immediately if an obstacle is detected.

Equally demanding is the application of the adhesive to the front windows. What makes this task particularly challenging is that the viscous adhesive must be spread over the large glass surface in one go and without any fluctuation in film thickness. At BMW Group Plant Leipzig, this task is carried out by a lightweight robot that works directly at the line with the human workforce.

But lightweight robots are also becoming more common in areas in which large robot facilities work behind safety fences. Their flexibility, modest space requirements and high level of safety grant people access to areas that used to be off-limits. Thanks to the broad range of possible applications, lightweight robots open up new potential in the field of traditional automation and give workers more leeway to implement improvements.

Today, direct man-machine cooperation is also possible with the traditional, large-scale industrial robots. In the transmission installation unit at BMW Group Plant Regensburg, a worker leads a large industrial robot to the screw bonding station. While a laser-based system supports the process of placing the industrial robot, the exact position is determined by the trained worker. The idea for this application was developed by the on-site team itself.

Like in other use cases, safety is always the top priority: should a person get too close to the robot while the latter gets into position, state-of-the-art safety technology slows down the movement of the robot arm, if needed to a total standstill, before any danger can arise. Due to the high forces required in the screw bonding process, this particular task cannot be assigned to a lightweight robot.

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