Pane relief: robotic solutions for car windshield assembly

Abstract

Just looking through a car's windshield does not give us much reason to wonder about how it is made. The idea that special manufacturing expertise might be required can hardly occur to anyone, but that is exactly what is needed to ensure crystal‐clear visibility, not to mention a perfect fit every time one is pressed into place on a car production line. Comprising two thin glass sheets joined by a vinyl interlayer, windshields are assembled – usually manually – to a very precise product and environmental specifications. To make sure this is done as perfectly as possible, the industry invests heavily in the equipment used for their fabrication. ABB has now developed a robot‐based Compact Assembling System for the automatic assembly of laminated windshields that speeds up production and increases cost efficiency.