- Rover can operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and spot operational issues at the plant.
- The carmaker says the robot frees up time for its engineers to perform repairs.
- Additional robot dogs could be used across JLR’s entire business, including at its Solihull factory.
An intelligent robot from Boston Dynamics has been deployed by Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) at its facility in Coventry, and while it isn’t being used to help produce vehicles, it can spot potential operational issues and wear and tear on equipment.
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The robot, lovingly known as Rover, can operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and only needs to take breaks to charge its 50V battery. It’s been configured to follow several pre-set routes through the EV test facility and conducts up to 24 patrols every day and night. Thanks to Rover’s multitude of sensors and AI, it can open doors, ascend stairs, and navigate high-traffic areas, all while continually taking measurements and inspecting valves and machinery.
Read: BMW Is Using One Of Those Creepy Robot Dogs To Sniff Out Problems At Its Plant
Jaguar Land Rover says using the robot eliminates the risk of human error in performing these inspections. It also frees up time for engineers to analyze Rover’s results to make business and maintenance predictions or to perform repairs. The Boston Dynamics creation can even hear gas leaks that can’t be sensed by humans and uses thermal sensors to evaluate battery temperatures quickly.
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The British carmaker says it’s assessing the possibility of using a fleet of robots like this across its entire business, including at the firm’s Solihull factory, where the Range Rover Electric will be built. This facility will also be the home of Jaguar’s long-awaited, next-generation fleet of electric vehicles that will launch in the coming years.
Funnily enough, Boston Dynamics is owned by another major automaker, namely the Hyundai Motor Group.
“Key to JLR’s Reimagine strategy is a continual collaboration with the industry’s brightest minds, developing advanced robotics solutions that work in harmony with our employees for the uncompromising benefit of our clients,” PhD of Automation and Robotics at JLR, Gonzalo Ejarque-Rinaldini said. “Enabling our engineers to work safer and smarter, collaborations such as this one with Boston Dynamics are key. Not only are they essential in realizing our ambition to electrify our Range Rover, Defender, Discovery and Jaguar brands by 2030, they also have an important role to play in ensuring that the final vehicles that roll off the line have only the very best EV battery technology within them.”
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