advancing robotic arms and assembly scanning systems for vehicles. They said their goal is to enable robotics arms to freely pick up and carry thin cables and reduce the time it takes for the scanning systems to create a 3D blueprint of vehicles for faster assembly.
“The logistics system (at HMGICS) has been far more automated than other factories,” said Spencer Lee, a manufacturing control manager at HMGICS who used to work in the aviation industry. HMGICS currently has a logistics automation rate of 65 percent and plans to increase it to 80 percent.
“Utilizing many robots to automate various systems is also a big advantage. We can also increase the production efficiency by flexibly operating between processes that take a long time and processes that take less time.”
Dozens of autonomous mobile robots were moving seamlessly on the third floor of the complex, where the vehicles were assembled. When a reporter abruptly stepped in the way of the moving robot carrying auto parts, it stopped without making contact as it had been equipped with cameras and sensors.
As for each step of the assembly, Hyundai-backed Boston Dynamics’ four-legged robot Spot followed the work process to take pictures to ensure that everything had been installed properly at each station. The Spot-taken photos are sent to the factory’s artificial intelligence program, which would give real-time feedback to the on-site workers.
Although HMGICS currently manufactures only the Ioniq 5 and the Ioniq 5 Robotaxi, a level 4 autonomous vehicle, its cell system allows for flexible production of other models if needed. Unlike traditional conveyor belts, a cell can be set up in just three days to meet a sudden hike in demand for certain vehicles.
According to Hyundai Motor, HMGICS has the world’s first technology for automatically installing chassis. Its work speed is already up to half of the automaker’s fastest manual assembly line. The automaker said HMGICS boasts the world’s most automated assembly system with 46 percent of the entire process being done autonomously, adding that the second-most automated vehicle plant has a 16 percent automation rate. HMGICS operates over 250 robots.
The Digital Command Center on the fourth floor showed the realization of digital twin technology and meta-factory. The three walls of the command center had big screens showing everything happening on the third floor in real time by turning all of the information into data. The digital control is capable of analyzing any issues in either logistics or assembly and optimizing every automated process to decrease downtime through simulation.
“HMGCIS’ goal is to achieve completely autonomous production,” said Jung.
“Other factories call themselves smart factories but they are just about low levels of optimization through data collection in some processes. What Hyundai Motor Group seeks is throughout intellectualization and autonomy of the factory. That is our differentiation.”