Hyundai Mobis (012330.KS) is pushing to introduce robots into the wiring process, long considered one of the toughest challenges in automotive production automation. The plan is to automate the fastening of battery wire harness connectors to raise the productivity and quality of battery production lines. If successful, the automation level of the battery assembly process is expected to advance a step further.
According to the robotics industry on the 30th, Hyundai Mobis is understood to be pursuing robotic automation of connector fastening, the core of the battery wire harness connection process. The task is currently in the research, development, and demonstration stage, with a pilot test planned during the summer holiday period when production lines are halted. The company is then said to plan verification of fastening accuracy and error rates in the second half.
The target for automation is the process of fastening connectors, which have wire harnesses attached, to the battery module (BMA). Hyundai Mobis is developing an automation system that applies a 3D vision system and control technology to existing 6-axis industrial robots to recognize connectors and fastening positions in real time, correct posture, and then perform fastening.
The wire harness connection process is considered one of the most difficult tasks to automate even on automotive production lines. While the auto industry has automated most production processes such as body assembly and painting, tasks handling flexible components like wiring have still relied on manual labor. The technology for robots to handle flexible components that constantly change shape, such as wiring, as precisely as humans has been pointed to as the final challenge of manufacturing automation.
In particular, the BMA has a narrow working space, and with wire harnesses connected at the rear, it is difficult to keep the position and posture of connectors consistent. Because wire harnesses made of bundled wiring are easily deformed, high technical capability is required for robots to recognize the position and angle of connectors in real time and fasten them accurately. Workers can adjust fine angles with the sense of their wrists, but robots must implement this solely through vision systems and control technology.
To solve this problem, Hyundai Mobis optimized position recognition and posture correction technology and a control system suited to the characteristics of the production line through collaboration with a robot system design company. An industry official said, "The position and posture of connectors differ for each production line, so accurately recognizing and correcting them is not easy," adding, "The system must be designed so that a 6-axis robot can fasten connectors after precisely identifying where to grip them with a 3D vision solution." Once this automation is implemented, robots will be able to perform the wire harness connection process, which is expected to improve productivity.
Hyundai Mobis plans to intensively verify positional error, fastening accuracy, and the stability of repetitive tasks on actual production lines through the pilot test. A Hyundai Mobis official explained, "We are in the stage of setting up to implement the task of fastening connectors at designated positions with robots," adding, "It is not yet at the stage of application to a specific product group, but rather part of research and development to advance the production process."
The industry believes that if technology for handling flexible wiring advances in the future, automation could expand to the wire harness manufacturing process. Currently, in the wire harness manufacturing process, a considerable number of tasks such as terminal crimping, wire insertion, and wiring arrangement are still done manually. These processes are often carried out by workers at first- and second-tier suppliers of the automotive industry. If this technology is successfully verified, the scope of robot application could expand to the wire harness manufacturing process in the future, according to the assessment.
When robots are applied to manual processes, work accuracy can be increased to lower defect rates. This is because fastening positions and fastening force, which can vary depending on worker skill levels, can be kept consistent, reducing quality variation. The outlook is that raising productivity and process stability could accelerate the smart factory advancement of battery production lines over the long term.
Lee Ho-keun, a professor of automotive engineering at Daedeok University, said, "Flexible components like wiring have been one of the most difficult areas to automate, but with recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and vision technology, we are reaching a stage where we can achieve work accuracy close to the human level," adding, "The scope of automation applied at manufacturing sites, including battery production lines, will expand further in the future."
