Skip to Content
Uncategorized

Ford is deploying exoskeletons in 15 of its factories around the world

August 7, 2018

The automaker is testing whether productivity gains among workers who wear the strength-boosting suits make the technology cost-effective.

Testing 1, 2, 3: Last year, Ford deployed exoskeletons at two of its factories in Michigan. Based on those tests it’s now expanding their use to 15 plants around the world. Every North American factory will be receiving at least one, while the rest will go to facilities in Asia, Europe, and South America.

What they do: The EksoVests, produced by Ekso Bionics, help provide an extra five to 15 pounds of force per arm when lifting heavy items. In Ford’s case, the vests are especially helpful to assembly line workers that spend most of their time reaching up to work on the undersides of cars.

The rollout: A total of 75 EksoVests will be issued in Ford’s next stage of experimentation. That’s a small number in a company of over 200,000 employees, but the company sees it as a stepping stone for future efforts that go beyond assisting with overhead work. "We wanted to focus on one exoskeleton initially, then expand from there as the space grows," Marty Smets, Ford's technical expert of human systems and virtual manufacturing, told Engadget.

Why it matters: Exoskeletons can help reduce worker injury and increase productivity. These tests are meant to prove the technology’s utility and whether it’s a financially feasible investment for large manufacturers.

Keep Reading

Most Popular

Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.

And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.

OpenAI teases an amazing new generative video model called Sora

The firm is sharing Sora with a small group of safety testers but the rest of us will have to wait to learn more.

Google’s Gemini is now in everything. Here’s how you can try it out.

Gmail, Docs, and more will now come with Gemini baked in. But Europeans will have to wait before they can download the app.

This baby with a head camera helped teach an AI how kids learn language

A neural network trained on the experiences of a single young child managed to learn one of the core components of language: how to match words to the objects they represent.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.