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Ford is Giving Its Factory Workers Robot Exo-suits To Ease To Burden of Building Cars (qz.com)
Mike Murphy, writing for Quartz: Ford's cars are getting closer to driving themselves, but they still need humans to build them. And because people aren't quite as durable as robots, it's trying to make those jobs easier by developing a suit with Ekso Bionics that takes the stress out of working long hours on a car assembly floor. Ekes, founded in 2005 in California, builds exoskeletons, essentially robotic assistive systems that people strap into to make walking, lifting, and standing easier. It's worked with the US military to build suits for soldiers. The system Ekso developed with Ford, called the EksoVest, doesn't use any motors to make working on factory lines less stressful, and it's nothing like what you see in movies, as it simply uses hydraulics to redistribute weight so that workers can comfortably raise their arms above their heads for extended periods of time. The suit can be worn by anyone from 5 ft to 6 ft 4 inches tall, and can provide lift assistance up to 15 pounds per arm. Some assembly-line workers at the average Ford plant lift their arms 4,600 times a day -- or about 1 million times a year, the company said.
Do they look like the carrier suits in Aliens that Ripley wore?!?!
Please?!?
We are getting closer to the future every moment.
Is this to help the workers or to train the suits?
Do they offer self-driving exosuits yet? The workers would love those! (And what could go wrong...)
Do the suits collect analytic data on how much work each user is doing?
Those suits are recording their every move. once enough data is collected they'll be able to replace them with robots!
You're motion-training your own replacements!
=Smidge=
When they gave weight belts to warehouse workers, lower back injuries went up by a lot because people's cores got weaker. I'm guessing we'll see something similar here.
Ford is Giving Its Factory Workers Robot Exo-suits To Ease To Burden of Building Cars
What is "To Ease To Burden" ?
"Some assembly-line workers at the average Ford plant lift their arms 4,600 times a day"
That means lifting your arms every 6 seconds during an 8 hour shift. That must take some getting used to. I don't think I'd be able to lift my arms anymore if I tried that for a couple of hours, even with empty hands.
Naturally
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... it's trying to make those jobs easier by developing a suit with Ekso Bionics that takes the stress out of working long hours on a car assembly floor.
Sure, but they could also hire more employees, instead of making the remaining - I mean current - ones work longer and harder - I mean easier.
[the suits are] nothing like what you see in movies, as it simply uses hydraulics to redistribute weight so that workers can comfortably raise their arms above their heads for extended periods of time.
Sounds like bunches of fun. (Is it still a torture stress position with the suits?)
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
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to improve productivity. If it happens to make their jobs easier that's a side benefit, and one that, in the absence of Unions, will be used to lower their pay.
I'm not saying this is a bad thing, I'm just saying that, like all productivity increases, it needs to be approached with careful forethought. I can't be the only one who's seen this chart.
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"Ford's cars are getting closer to driving themselves, but they still need humans to build them."
There's your problem right there.
They don't need human operated robots but AI driven ones.
That was what made the assembly line an innovation. More people working at the same time, but the were only doing one specific thing, so the overall productivity was much higher than the same number of people building individual cars.
Doing more with less people is what Ford was built on.
Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
Nobody should have to work more than 6 hours a day. Let's demand that with the 30 hour week standard, then the companies can add a fourth shift when they need it. Our rights will not be given to us. We have to take them by whatever means necessary!
" they still need humans to build them."
"Need" is way too strong a word there.
Ford, unable to completely automate due to being held hostage by unions is rolling out robots that contain flesh bags made of mostly water. These flesh bags will be nominally in control but ultimately will be nearly as productive as a traditional robot.
FORD WORKERS, take the suits! Then weaponize them, and take back this beautiful country from your capitalist oppressors!
Resistance is futile. Enter your exoskeleton.
And in the off hours... Ford employees are encourage to use the suits to fight crime in ... MEGADetroit!
Otherwise you might get arms bending in the opposite direction
And? The alternative is probably that they price themselves out of the market, consumers buy some other brand and everybody lose their jobs. In fact, if they're successful there could be more jobs at Ford despite being less in the industry. Unless you're in some form of cartel/monopolist market or public service where people have no choice but to suck it up being intentionally inefficient to protect jobs is folly. I have an old Ford that might get replaced soon, it's been good to me so obviously I'm looking at new Fords. But I'm also seriously looking at Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Volvo and a few outsiders too. I know what they were 10+ years ago may not be that relevant today, neither in terms of features or quality. It's not exactly a market to be complacent in.
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Oh wait - AMERICANS....
Why not just rotate the cars through 90 degrees for that part of the production line, so that the workers see the bottom of the car facing sideways?