A robot that can replace a set of four car wheels in less than 15 minutes has been put into service in Calgary, Canada. The system was created by American startup PitPro Automation.
A robot that can replace a set of four car wheels in less than 15 minutes has been put into service in Calgary, Canada. The system was created by American startup PitPro Automation.
This is reported by TechCrunch.
The system consists of two robotic modules that stand on either side of the car. Sensors help them find the lug nuts on the wheels, after which manipulators unscrew them, remove the wheel, install another one, and tighten everything back down.
The company claims that the entire process with four wheels takes less than 15 minutes. In addition, there is no need to build a separate workshop for the robot, as the system is designed to work in a regular service box, where other car maintenance can be carried out in parallel.
Founder and CEO Jeremy Conrad says that tire repair shops are finding it increasingly difficult to hire people for jobs like tire fitting. It’s physically demanding, and new hires often quit within a few months. He says one tire repair shop manager even had to negotiate a pay raise after a fast-food restaurant opened across the street, taking about half of the staff.
During the transition from testing to working in a regular workshop, engineers had to take into account not so obvious problems. For example, the service box gates are often left open, which allows dust, debris and moisture to get inside. Because of this, PitPro had to take special care to ensure that the robot sensors did not lose accuracy and continued to “see” the wheels correctly. And once the robots were almost completely covered in dandelion seeds. However, PitPro tested the system and decided that this did not interfere with it.
Earlier, dev.ua wrote that the American company Zinova showed a robot that was trained to use common construction tools. In the demo, it independently drove nails, drilled, installed reinforcement, and leveled concrete while assembling a small concrete panel.
