Diesel engine assembly line with industrial robots and programmable pallets

Modern-day assembly lines for car and truck engines are highly automated installations. Although their basic design, relatively inflexible conveyor systems, and dedicated automatic stations have hardly changed over the years, they have become more and more complex. This has meant that the time-frames for their planning and installation have steadily increased. Growing competition is nevertheless forcing the industry to install highly automated assembly systems in ever-shorter times. Working together with the customer, ABB Montage und Test Automation GmbH in Germany planned and installed in a short time a diesel engine assembly line while the engines were still being developed. It included different flexible conveyor systems and 16 six-axis robots.