Manufacturing often involves the fabrication of products that are made up of multiple smaller parts or components. Assembling these parts into finished products can be complex and labor intensive. Robots have been assembling parts into products since the mid-20th century [REF-Unimate] and the automotive industry is perhaps best known for robotic assembly as automotive factories employ roughly 30% of all industrial robots worldwide [REF-WR 2019].
If you’re like me (a gadget and technology nerd) you can’t help staring at big industrial robots at work in some automotive factory and be mesmerized by their ability to move so quickly and so precisely from one position to another, repeating the same tasks with no end in sight. The long conveyor belts, vibratory feeders, and complex jigs and fixtures all blend together into a carefully orchestrated symphony that you almost forget about the final product.