EV Demo: Battery Wiring Review in VR

In this video, we showcase a Virtual Assembly Process and Assembly Cell Layout Review. With IC.IDO engineers are able to bring in CAD data for the product, digital design of assembly tooling, and experience first-hand the proposed assembly tasks. In this manner, evaluation of new product assembly processes can be completed far in advance of the release of product designs. By performing the validation review of human-performed assembly processes, stakeholders can assure that their products are well suited for the human operators who will need to complete those processes.

As modern mobility sees internal combustion engines (ICE) being displaced by Electric Vehicles, one might assume assembly planning requires only exchanging installation of the ICE with batteries and electric motors. Assembly line layout and assembly order for ICE models is something that has evolved throughout the 100+ years since the first automotive assembly lines. Unfortunately, automotive OEMs today are still in the first “generation” of planning assembly lines for Electric Vehicles—experience assembling ICE far outstrips our collective experience with electric vehicles.

In a few years, as OEMs launch and update their Electric Vehicles, they will learn valuable lessons in plant layout and planning for general assembly and final trim of EV. But which OEM can afford to wait to learn those lessons while risking cost overruns, delayed launches, reduced quality, diminished reputation and injured team members? Instead, automotive OEM can accelerate some of that learning by conducting Virtual Reality powered reviews of the Human-Centric Assembly processes, namely those performed by humans rather than robots or automation.

In this review we spend only a few minutes to evaluate if the person in VR is able to complete the assembly process comfortably and safely, all without making anyone wait until the product is available physically or the person is present at the plant. By providing the virtual Pilot Assembly Plant with the intended product data and proposed tooling, we effectively travel in time and space to the future assembly plant after construction. We can evaluate if the product fits the proposed process and if people will be productive in that environment, in plenty of time to do something about any issues that emerge during the review.