Robotic assembly of wire harnesses: Economic and technical justification

Comparison of wire harness assembly methods shows that robotic cells are unlikely to be economical for typical harnesses used in industry. Designing products for ease of robot assembly might be the only solution to make a robotized cell economical. Therefore, typical rules of design for assembly are adapted to the wire harness. The design simplification leads to the definition of a new robotized cell where the wire is directly fed into the cell, marked if needed, then cut and laid on the assembly board. A prototype of this robotic cell has been manufactured and tested. The economic performance of this new concept is evaluated and compared with other classical solutions.