Earlier this year Foxconn announced that they will be deploying robots (also known as Foxbots) to help with the assembly of the iPhone. However it was later discovered that the robots weren’t as helpful as they had originally thought, and now according to a recent report from Chinese website Jiemian (via G for Games), it has been reported that Foxconn’s venture proved to be a rather disappointing affair.
According to the report, one of the main issues surrounding the robots is their precision. Apparently they are not precise enough, at least as far as Apple’s standards are concerned. It has been reported that assembling Apple’s products require an accuracy of 0.02mm, while the Foxbots can only achieve an accuracy of 0.05mm, which safe to say isn’t up to scratch.
Another issue is that the robots are a bit too big and clunky as they have their roots in the automotive industry. It has been suggested that the robots might be more suited at handling materials and tasks that might not need such finesse, but at this point in time it looks like relying on the Foxbots to completely assemble an iPhone might not be such a great idea.
Last we heard Foxconn is working on a second-generation robot that will be an improvement over the first, but whether or not it will be up to Apple’s standards remains to be seen.
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