- Audi and its partners are developing mobile humanoids to sequence parts at its Ingolstadt Production Lab.
- The robots combine two arms with a mobile base to handle components from mixed containers.
- A virtual twin will test feasibility, timing, ergonomics and safety before the planned physical deployment.
Getting the right component to an assembly line in the right order is a sizeable job at Audi. Its demand-driven material supply involves around one million picks each day, and the company is exploring how mobile humanoid robots could take on some of that repetitive work.
Audi has announced a proof of concept with Agile Robots, Dassault Systèmes and Nvidia to automate parts sequencing at its Ingolstadt Production Lab. Presented at Nvidia GTC Berlin this month, the project focuses on handling components that vary in size, shape and flexibility.
Two arms and a mobile base
The proposed robots combine a mobile base with two arms and a reach at human working height. Their task is to retrieve components from mixed containers and arrange them in the sequence needed for assembly.
That includes semi-rigid parts and larger flexible components, which make the job more involved than repeatedly lifting identical rigid objects. The project is intended to reduce repetitive manual workload in material supply.
The humanoid description refers to the robots' working arrangement and reach: these machines use a mobile base, rather than walking on two legs.
Rehearsing the work digitally
Before physical deployment, the partners are creating a virtual twin to examine whether the proposed process is feasible and how it would operate. Dassault Systèmes' DELMIA and 3DEXPERIENCE tools will be used alongside Nvidia Omniverse to test timing, ergonomics and safety in the simulated environment.
Audi has not announced measured productivity gains or a series-production rollout. The next step is to establish whether the proposed system can handle variable components reliably within an existing production setting.
