Those robots Foxconn was counting on to help assemble iPhones and other products just aren’t working out for the Apple assembly partner. Chinese economic website Jiemian (via G for Games) reports the first-generation bots are just not precise enough to meet Apple’s standards.
In the first stage of deployment, the “Foxbots” have been tasked with menial jobs that include the assembly of larger components and tightening screws. Unfortunately, the bots are proving to have an accuracy to 0.05 mm, which is above the 0.02 mm tolerance required to assemble Apple’s products.
The robots – which were adapted from the car manufacturing industry – are large and clunky, lacking the flexibility required to assemble Apple’s complex devices. Foxconn is reported to be hard at work on a second-generation of the Foxbots, however they may require years of refining before they’re ready to take their place on an iPhone assembly line.
Foxconn continues to seek ways to improve their production capabilities in order to meet Apple’s ever-growing demand for iPhones, iPads, and other products. It appears that in the short term that will involve hiring more human bodies to put on their iPhone production assembly lines.
