r/machinesinaction • u/Bodzio1981 • 13d ago

Car Factory Robots

Automatic Welding Body Shop, will we lost out jobs some day?

2.1k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

62 comments sorted by

View all comments

23

u/SenatorAdamSpliff 13d ago

50 years ago it was some guy doing the welds. Maybe he didn’t sleep well. Maybe he was hungover. Maybe he was disgruntled.

Remember that when people say cars were built better back then.

5

u/Mercury_Madulller 13d ago

It's more about the materials. Thinner gauges of metal, more plastics, smaller and thinner castings. Almost everything has been cheapened in a modern car. It's not without any benefit though. Lighter cars get better fuel economy for instance. Using the rigidity and strength of stamped steel sheets also allows for both a lighter car that also has built-in crumple zones. Cars are better now but I wouldn't say they're necessarily more durable or reliable unless you're comparing a 2026 to a model A. There was a series of trade-offs as vehicle designs matured. I would say durability and reliability probably peeked in the '90s-early 2000s. Safety and economy continue to get better.

5

u/SkeletalJam 13d ago

Look up crash tests old vs new and tell me an older car is more rigid or durable

1

u/Zealousideal-Fix9464 12d ago

They were more durable. But durability doesn't help you in a crash unless you have a 5 point harness and HANS device.