Musk Scales Back Tesla Automation as General Assembly Favors Humans

Marques Brownlee

Over-automating vehicle assembly creates severe operational fragility, forcing Tesla to rely on human dexterity for complex installations while stripping out redundant robotic mechanisms to end factory bottlenecks.

AI-assisted summary of Tesla Factory Tour with Elon Musk! — original source. Check the original for full context.

Source published: 2018-08-20

Key ideas

Tesla deliberately favors human workers over automation in General Assembly, as human dexterity easily adapts to flexible wiring harnesses and parts variations that trigger frequent vision-system faults in robotics. (2:25)
The factory floor relies on simple magnetic-tape-guided AGVs rather than complex LiDAR systems, allowing ground-level staff to rapidly reconfigure transit paths without specialized engineering support. (6:22)
Model S and Model X production yields approximately 2,000 vehicles weekly on dedicated lines completely separated from Model 3 manufacturing, converging only at the Fremont paint shop bottleneck. (12:05)
Elon Musk's core manufacturing optimization doctrine is 'the best part is no part, best process is no process,' focusing on removing failure-prone intermediate mechanisms like rotating turntables and auditing automated tool speeds. (12:46)

Detailed notes

## Background Published on YouTube by Marques Brownlee on August 20, 2018, this video serves as a follow-up to his sit-down interview with Elon Musk. The video description outlines an informal walk-and-talk through the Tesla Fremont Factory, offering viewers a firsthand look at the bustling manufacturing floor.

## TL;DR Marques Brownlee joins Tesla CEO Elon Musk on an informal walking tour through the Tesla Fremont Factory, observing the production lines for the Model S, Model X, and Model 3. Musk breaks down the division between automation and human labor, explaining why human dexterity remains essential for flexible components and interior assembly while heavy industrial robots handle structural welding and chassis transfers. The discussion explores factory logistics, ranging from simple magnetic-tape transit carts and paint shop throughput bottlenecks to the hybrid manual-robotic battery pack mating station. Musk also reflects on his hands-on troubleshooting on the factory floor and his core manufacturing doctrine of eliminating unnecessary parts and processes to reduce points of failure.

## Atmosphere & style The tour carries an energetic, candid, and slightly chaotic tone, immersed in the authentic ambient clatter and mechanical bustle of a live automotive plant. Marques acts as an inquisitive guide absorbing the vast scale of operations, while Musk provides direct, unvarnished commentary—pointing out engineering design flaws, dodging moving carts, and greeting floor staff. The dynamic feels casual yet intellectually focused, balancing grand manufacturing philosophy with the granular, physical reality of building cars at scale.

## Bulletin - [02:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=145s) Tesla deliberately favors human workers over automation in General Assembly, as human dexterity easily adapts to flexible wiring harnesses and parts variations that trigger frequent vision-system faults in robotics. - [06:22](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=382s) The factory floor relies on simple magnetic-tape-guided AGVs rather than complex LiDAR systems, allowing ground-level staff to rapidly reconfigure transit paths without specialized engineering support. - [12:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=725s) Model S and Model X production yields approximately 2,000 vehicles weekly on dedicated lines completely separated from Model 3 manufacturing, converging only at the Fremont paint shop bottleneck. - [12:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=766s) Elon Musk's core manufacturing optimization doctrine is 'the best part is no part, best process is no process,' focusing on removing failure-prone intermediate mechanisms like rotating turntables and auditing automated tool speeds.

## Key takeaways - [01:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=79s) General Assembly is configured in a large U-shaped flow where bare stamped vehicle bodies enter, circulate through progressive installation stations, and exit on the opposite side. - [02:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=145s) While rigid body welding is well-suited for robots, General Assembly favors humans due to the physical complexity of routing flexible wiring harnesses and handling slightly misaligned components from staging bins. - [02:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=145s) Vehicle assembly lines move at an intentional crawl, advancing at well under 1 mile per hour for the Model S and X lines, and closer to 1 mile per hour for the higher-volume Model 3 line. - [06:22](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=382s) Over-automating factory operations introduces severe fragility, where minor fixture collisions can halt 24/7 continuous production and require emergency parts shipments from overseas. - [08:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=488s) Tesla utilizes off-the-shelf industrial robotic arms for heavy mechanical articulation, but custom-engineers all end-effector grippers, sensors, motion paths, and control software in-house. - [09:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=559s) Medium-sized industrial assembly robots maintain a precision repeatability of 0.2 to 0.3 millimeters, whereas larger robots carrying full vehicle bodies operate with slightly wider tolerances due to scale and payload mass. - [09:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=559s) Black is Tesla's most requested paint color worldwide; in the United States, white is nearly as popular as black, whereas white vehicles are exceptionally rare in the European market. - [10:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=650s) Battery pack installation is executed as a hybrid workstation, combining automated lifting machinery for structural placement with human operators for fine-tuning alignment. - [10:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=650s) Factory matte paint finishes are currently avoided because minor panel dings cannot be polished out or easily matched, and the Fremont paint shop already operates at maximum production capacity. - [12:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=725s) The shared Model S and Model X production line outputs roughly 2,000 vehicles per week, with drive units built in adjacent sub-assemblies before entering the main line. - [12:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=725s) The paint shop is the sole shared facility between the flagship Model S/X and the mass-market Model 3 lines; all other body manufacturing and general assembly operations remain physically isolated. - [12:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=766s) Line troubleshooting targets incremental, mundane gains multiplied across stations—such as increasing RPM and torque on automated bolt drivers and eliminating non-value-added hardware handoffs.

## Detailed walkthrough ### [00:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=5s) Tour Introduction and the Logistics of Filming inside Fremont

Marques Brownlee introduces the video as the follow-up to his sit-down interview with Elon Musk, taking viewers inside the Tesla Fremont Factory for an informal walking tour. Filming on the factory floor proved challenging due to extreme noise and continuous industrial activity, capturing roughly 15 to 20 percent of the actual Model S and Model X manufacturing process. Marques describes his role during the walkthrough as being “like a kid in The Matrix just kind of absorbing everything,” while Musk leads the way until abruptly departing for a scheduled meeting at the end. The production was shot with the assistance of Jon Rettinger and the TLD crew, who managed the audio and operated the Steadicam rig throughout the busy facility.

[01:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=79s) Overhead Car Transfers and the U-Shaped Assembly Flow

The walkthrough begins near a set of heavy industrial robots tasked with transferring vehicle chassis over a central pedestrian corridor to maintain through-access for factory staff. Musk critiques the current multi-stage transfer mechanism—where one robot lifts the car onto an elevated rotating table before a third overhead unit retrieves it—noting that future revisions should streamline the handoff directly from arm to arm. When asked about the overall layout, Musk explains that General Assembly is configured in a large U-shape: vehicles enter on one side, advance down the line, loop around, and gain progressive complexity at every workstation before exiting on the opposite side.

```mermaid flowchart LR accTitle: General Assembly Flow Layout accDescr: U-shaped progression of a vehicle chassis through Tesla General Assembly

subgraph Leg1 ["Inbound Leg"] A["Bare Stamped Body"] --> B["Wiring & Insulation"] end

subgraph Transfer ["Corridor Transfer"] B --> C["Overhead Robot Transfer"] end

subgraph Leg2 ["Outbound Leg"] C --> D["Interior & HVAC Install"] D --> E["Finished Assembly"] end ```

- Elon Musk evaluates the overhead handoff efficiency: “I think like, you know, like a design improvement we should do is like really just the one robot, you just pass it to the other robot.” - Production progress across the floor is incremental, with thousands of subtle layout tweaks implemented over time to shave seconds off cycle times.

[02:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=145s) Why Humans Beat Robots in General Assembly

Musk walks Marques toward the beginning of General Assembly to illustrate why manual labor remains vastly superior to automated systems for interior fitments. While rigid body welding is easily automated, General Assembly forces machines to navigate complex tolerances and soft materials. If a part arrives in a staging bin sitting an inch off-axis, a human operator effortlessly adjusts their grip and bolts it into place, whereas a robotic arm demands expensive vision systems that frequently trigger system faults. Musk and Marques compare this friction to studio camera rigs halting when vision tracking fails. The difficulty is most evident with flexible components like wiring harnesses and air conditioning assemblies, where human dexterity paired with simple mechanical winches delivers far greater reliability.

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Assembly Task Suitability accDescr: Comparison of task characteristics best suited for humans versus robots

subgraph HumanTasks ["Well-Suited for Humans: General Assembly"] H1["Flexible wiring harness routing"] H2["Handling misaligned parts from bins"] H3["In-line quality checks & defect sorting"] end

subgraph RobotTasks ["Well-Suited for Robots: Body Shop"] R1["Repetitive structural spot welding"] R2["Heavy chassis transfers"] R3["Rigid, repeatable positioning"] end ```

Musk steps aside briefly to greet assembly line technicians and ensure they are comfortable appearing on camera. Looking inside the stripped chassis, he points out acoustic insulation, corrosion coatings, and side curtain airbags that are hidden in the finished vehicle. Musk highlights the speed of the line, explaining that while walking pace is roughly 3 miles per hour, the Model S and Model X lines crawl at well under 1 mile per hour, with the higher-volume Model 3 line moving closer to 1 mile per hour.

- Elon Musk reflects on the division of labor in manufacturing: “General assembly is what I've spoken about as being really well suited to people, because you got a lot of weird things that you got to put together.” - Musk on routing vehicle electronics: “It’s literally like winding like a snake through the car, you got to like poke it through holes and do various things, that’s super difficult for a robot.” - Elon Musk summarizes human adaptability on the line: “Basically, like a pro human can do this super well and it's like hard for the robots to do that.”

[06:22](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=382s) Factory Growth, "Dumb" AGVs, and Automation Downtime Risks

As the facility expanded from its historic 5,000-worker roster under previous joint ownership (NUMMI) to over 10,000 Tesla employees on site, commuter infrastructure became a primary operational challenge, necessitating company shuttles, vanpools, and the opening of an adjacent Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station. Musk pauses to highlight an automated guided vehicle (AGV) transporting parts along the floor, calling it one of his favorite "dumb robots." Instead of relying on complex LiDAR mapping, the cart simply tracks an adhesive magnetic stripe laid directly on the ground and uses basic frontal proximity sensors to pause when obstacles appear.

Musk warns that over-automating continuous production creates severe operational fragility. In a 24/7 production push, every complex automation cell requires dedicated round-the-clock robotics engineers. A minor collision that damages an alignment fixture can halt the entire line, triggering emergency part shipments across continents.

- Elon Musk describes the high stakes of factory downtime: “And then I get pulled on my cell phone at 2:00 in the morning and it's like trying to fly a part from Germany, it's like we literally had that two days ago.” - Simpler magnetic-tape transit carts prevent line stoppages because any factory worker can reprogram their path instantly by pulling up and repositioning floor tape without software engineering support.

[08:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=488s) Off-the-Shelf Arms vs. Custom End Effectors

Marques asks whether Tesla manufactures its own industrial assembly robots or procures them from external automation vendors. Musk clarifies that heavy equipment falls into distinct hardware classes: the heavy mechanical articulation arms, such as the large yellow Fanuc units that hoist entire vehicle bodies, are off-the-shelf catalog machinery. However, the software motion paths, safety sensors, structural mounting fixtures, and specialized end effectors—the custom grippers that actually latch onto and release the chassis—are engineered entirely in-house. Musk adds that factory teams nickname these massive machines after X-Men and Marvel comic characters to tell them apart as the facility fills with hundreds of identical robotic units.

- Musk explains the boundary between vendor hardware and Tesla engineering: “You kind of like buy this like powerful arm, but it's just like having an arm stuck in the ground, and then you're like, okay, what does the arm do? You got to tell it everything to do.” - Off-the-shelf arms act purely as raw mechanical muscle; all tooling contacting the vehicle is custom-designed for the specific vehicle architecture.

[09:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=559s) Robot Precision, Factory Floor Navigation, and Paint Popularity

Continuing through the factory floor, Elon Musk explains the mechanics behind the massive robotic arm carrying car bodies overhead. While the robotic base is an off-the-shelf industrial unit, the end effector that physically grips and supports the vehicle is entirely custom-engineered, requiring custom programming, sensor integration, and wiring. Marques Brownlee asks about the repeatable precision of such a massive machine, wondering if it follows the exact same path down to an inch or a centimeter. Musk corrects him, explaining that while larger robots have slightly less precision than small ones, a medium-sized robot maintains repeatability down to roughly 0.2 to 0.3 millimeters.

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Robot Precision vs Size accDescr: Visual comparison of the precision differences between larger and medium-sized industrial robots. subgraph Precision["Robotic Arm Repeatability"] direction TB Large["Large Robot (Carrying car bodies)"] -->|"Trade-off"| LessP["Slightly less precision due to sheer scale"] Medium["Medium-Sized Robot"] -->|"High Precision"| Spec["Accurate to 0.2 - 0.3 mm"] end ```

As they walk, an autonomous ground-guided vehicle creeps across their path, prompting Musk to warn, “Watch out, there's a dumb robot coming through.” Marques jokes about trusting the robot’s sensors as it navigates safely past them before turning the conversation to consumer preferences: what is the most popular paint color coming off the line? Musk reveals that black is the top choice overall, but notes sharp geographic variations. In the United States, black and white run nearly even as the two most dominant shades (with black edging slightly ahead), whereas in Europe, black is significantly more popular and white cars are very rare.

- Medium-sized industrial robots operate with a positional tolerance of 0.2 to 0.3 millimeters. - Large robots have slightly lower precision than smaller robots due to scale and payload mass. - Black is the most requested paint color globally, followed closely by white in the US market. - In Europe, white is considered an exceptionally rare color choice for vehicles.

---

[10:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=650s) The Battery Pack Mating Station and Matte Paint Feasibility

Musk and Marques arrive at the vehicle "mating station," the critical junction where the structural battery pack is hoisted and bolted to the vehicle chassis. Marques observes that the operation is a hybrid blend of automation and human oversight. Musk agrees, pointing out that while the heavy robotic apparatus handles the lifting and primary alignment, a human operator works alongside the machinery to provide fine-tuning adjustments and guarantee exact fitment.

Marques asks Musk how he feels about offering factory matte or satin paint finishes, noting that fans frequently request them. Musk confesses that he loves the aesthetic appeal of matte colors, but highlights the severe post-sale maintenance challenges: “It's really tricky to to repair a matte, so like with you can polish it out with matte, um if you get like a little ding it's really hard to then rematch the so it looks like an even matte.” Beyond repairability, Musk explains that Tesla’s paint shop is already running at maximum capacity, meaning introducing extra complexity would be counterproductive at this stage, though he hopes to offer it in the future.

- Battery pack installation utilizes an automated robotic lift coupled with manual fine-tuning by human technicians. - Unlike gloss finishes that can be buffed and polished after minor scratches, matte finishes require difficult matching across panels. - Tesla's Fremont paint shop operates at "Full Tilt," precluding the introduction of specialized matte finishes in the immediate term.

---

[12:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=725s) Production Architecture: Model S/X vs. Model 3

Surveying the massive layout, Musk points out the sub-assembly sections where front and rear drive units are assembled independently before feeding directly into the main vehicle line. This particular line integrates both Model S and Model X, pushing out approximately 2,000 combined vehicles per week. Marques asks whether the Model 3 assembly line is segregated within the factory. Musk confirms that Model 3 assembly is completely independent throughout the building—with body framing, sub-assemblies, and general assembly taking place in isolated areas—save for one single bottleneck.

Musk explains: “The only place where Model 3 uh and S and X come together is in the paint shop, so the paint shop is processing S, 3, and X um simultaneously down the same line.” Everywhere else in Fremont, the production paths for the flagship vehicles and the mass-market Model 3 remain segregated.

```mermaid flowchart LR accTitle: Fremont Production Routing accDescr: Flow showing how Model S, Model X, and Model 3 remain separate except inside the paint shop. subgraph SeparateLines1["Early Stages"] S_X_Body["Model S & X Body"] M3_Body["Model 3 Body"] end

subgraph Bottleneck["Shared Facility"] Paint["Paint Shop (Processes S, 3, & X simultaneously)"] end

subgraph SeparateLines2["Assembly"] S_X_Line["Model S & X Final Assembly (~2,000 cars/week)"] M3_Line["Model 3 Final Assembly (Dedicated lines)"] end

S_X_Body --> Paint M3_Body --> Paint Paint --> S_X_Line Paint --> M3_Line ```

- The joint Model S and Model X line produces approximately 2,000 vehicles per week. - Drive units are manufactured in adjacent sub-assembly areas before joining the main chassis line. - The paint shop is the sole shared facility across Model S, Model X, and Model 3 manufacturing; body manufacturing and general assembly remain separate.

---

[12:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=766s) Sleeping on the Factory Floor and First-Principles Optimization

Marques brings up the well-known reports of Musk sleeping inside the factories, asking what specific problems actually require the CEO's direct, hands-on intervention. Musk clarifies that during the final three months of the prior year, he spent the vast majority of his time at the Nevada Gigafactory untangling battery module production bottlenecks. He emphasizes that troubleshooting manufacturing is not about single grandiose interventions, but rather resolving thousands of minute, mundane inefficiencies by closing the feedback loop between design engineers and production floor reality.

Musk summarizes his manufacturing doctrine with a core first-principles rule: “Because the best part is no part, best process is no process.” He explains that design teams often mandate steps that turn out to be completely unnecessary in real-world assembly. Immediate optimizations include auditing automated bolt drivers to ramp up their RPM and torque settings, or eliminating wasted motion. He points to an existing station where cars are lifted onto a rotating turntable so a secondary robot can grab them: because the turntable frequently breaks down, Musk wants it eliminated entirely in favor of a direct robot-to-robot handoff. Optimizing production ultimately comes down to weeding out non-value-added steps, maximizing the speed of automated tools, and stripping away redundant hardware that creates unnecessary failure points.

- Musk spent the final quarter of 2017 primarily stationed at the Gigafactory diagnosing automated battery module bottlenecks. - Optimization targets micro-adjustments multiplied across the line, such as increasing the RPM and torque profiles on automated bolt drivers. - Intermediate mechanical steps, such as motorized turntables between robotic arms, are targeted for removal to eliminate mechanical failure points. - Factory redesign centers on removing any motion or mechanism that fails to directly add value to the finished vehicle.

## Notable quotes > [12:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=766s) the best part is no part, best process is no process. — Elon Musk

> [02:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08&t=145s) General assembly is what I've spoken about as being really well suited to people, because you got a lot of weird things that you got to put together. — Elon Musk

## Mentioned Marques Brownlee, Elon Musk, Jon Rettinger, TLD, Tesla, Tesla Fremont Factory, Model S, Model X, Model 3, NUMMI, Fanuc, Gigafactory, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)

## Video description Walking and talking through the Tesla factory Part 1 Interview: https://youtu.be/MevKTPN4ozw Behind-the-scenes with TLD: https://youtu.be/Tz9ZuI0PSSI

MKBHD Merch: http://shop.MKBHD.com

Video Gear I use: http://kit.com/MKBHD/video-gear#recommendation17959 Tech I'm using right now: https://www.amazon.com/shop/MKBHD

Intro Track: Disarm by Alltta (Instrumental)

~ http://twitter.com/MKBHD http://snapchat.com/add/MKBHD http://google.com/+MarquesBrownlee http://instagram.com/MKBHD http://facebook.com/MKBHD

[Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9kK0_7x08)

中文简报

马斯克缩减特斯拉自动化规模，总装环节转向青睐人工汽车总装过度自动化会导致严重的运营脆弱性，促使特斯拉依靠人类的灵活性完成复杂安装，同时拆除冗余的机器人机构以消除工厂瓶颈。 Marques Brownlee 与特斯拉首席执行官埃隆·马斯克一同非正式走访了特斯拉弗里蒙特工厂，实地观察了 Model S、Model X 和 Model 3 的生产线。马斯克详细拆解了自动化与人工之间的分工，解释了为何柔性部件和内饰组装仍离不开人类的灵活性，而重型工业机器人则负责结构焊接和底盘搬运。双方还讨论了工厂物流，涵盖简单的磁带导引运输车、涂装车间的吞吐量瓶颈，以及人机协作的电池包合装工位。马斯克还回顾了自己在工厂车间亲力亲为排查故障的经历，以及他通过剔除不必要的零部件和流程来减少故障点的核心制造理念。特斯拉在总装环节特意偏向人工而非自动化，因为人类的灵活性更容易适应柔性线束和零部件公差，而这些情况经常导致机器人视觉系统报错。 (2:25) 车间地面采用简单的磁带导引自动导引车（AGV），而非复杂的激光雷达系统，使一线员工无需专门的工程技术支持即可快速重设运输路线。 (6:22) Model S 和 Model X 在与 Model 3 制造完全分开的专用产线上每周约生产 2,000 辆车，各产线仅在弗里蒙特涂装车间这一瓶颈处交汇。 (12:05) 埃隆·马斯克的核心制造优化理念是“最好的零件就是没有零件，最好的流程就是没有流程”，重点在于去除易出故障的中间机构（例如旋转转盘）并审核自动化工具的运行速度。 (12:46)

Source quotes

[12:46] Elon Musk: the best part is no part, best process is no process. [2:25] Elon Musk: General assembly is what I've spoken about as being really well suited to people, because you got a lot of weird things that you got to put together.

Original transcript

[0:01] [Music] [0:05] hey what is up guys I'm kbd here and [0:06] welcome to the sequel to the previous [0:08] video so the part two which is the mini [0:11] factory tour with Elon I want to preface [0:14] it just with the intro by saying first [0:16] of all it is really difficult to shoot [0:19] good video in that factory as you'll [0:22] both see in here it's Extremely Loud and [0:25] extremely busy so this is more of just [0:26] like a walking around and having fun and [0:28] checking things out uh it's it's [0:30] actually probably just like 15 or 20% of [0:33] the actual model snx Factory process [0:36] it's not the whole thing it's mostly [0:37] just Elon showing us around and uh in [0:40] fact I didn't even really say much [0:41] during this interview it was more just [0:43] like a I was kind of like a kid in the [0:45] Matrix just kind of absorbing everything [0:47] and then it also kind of cuts abruptly [0:48] at the end when Elon basically gets [0:49] pulled into his next meeting but I still [0:51] thought it was a ton of fun and worth [0:53] sharing and also I should mention this [0:55] entire video shoot this production would [0:57] not be possible without my buddy John [0:59] from the TLD Channel and his crew who [1:02] helped with audio who wear the muscle [1:04] with the steady cam he has an entire [1:06] behind the-scenes video of this process [1:08] on his channel I'll link that right [1:09] below so if you want to check that out [1:11] after watching this in part one feel [1:13] free but until the next one this is your [1:16] mini tour of the Tesla Factory with Elon [1:19] enjoy one that Loops back and like I [1:21] said just gives gives us access to the [1:23] central caror yeah um so it's really [1:25] just like lifting it up and over so the [1:28] the car that ends up here came all the [1:29] way way down this previous yeah yeah [1:31] exactly so these robots are really just [1:34] to give us uh like through through [1:35] access okay yeah so so it's going to [1:38] pick it up and transfer it to the other [1:40] robot yeah um but I I think like you [1:43] know like a design Improvement we should [1:44] do is like really just the one robot you [1:46] just pass it to the other robot um just [1:48] pick it up oh there's a third one above [1:50] us yeah it's like it puts it on a table [1:52] the table rotates it's like like if we [1:54] do if we did this overa we would just [1:55] have that giant robot pass it to that [1:57] giant robot Fair yeah hand off yeah [2:01] there like a thousands of like little [2:03] things like that that help improve [2:04] production General Sly kind of operates [2:06] in kind of a u so it goes cars coming [2:08] over there go all the way down here and [2:10] then all the way that way um and uh you [2:13] can see the car get progressively more [2:15] complex as it goes down the general [2:16] assembly line what does it look like [2:18] when it starts this side of the assembly [2:19] line oh we can go there we go there [2:22] should we start there start at the [2:23] beginning or might as [2:25] well but here you can get a good sense [2:28] for there's like like general assembly [2:31] is what I was spoken about as being [2:32] really well suited to people okay uh [2:35] because you got a lot of weird things [2:36] that you got to put together like you [2:38] like look at some of these um you know [2:40] assemblies that like like it's pretty [2:42] hard for a robot to like connect this on [2:45] that makes sense yeah it's you know like [2:48] depending upon how it comes out of the [2:50] box it could be like in a little [2:51] different position but it's pretty easy [2:53] for somebody like oh it's it's like I [2:55] just need to move it like an inch you [2:57] know bolt it in it's probably really [2:58] hard to write software to [3:02] alls yeah you try to if you try to have [3:05] the robot do this you got have like a [3:06] complicated Vision system and then like [3:08] Vision system fols out it's like it's [3:10] not quite right that's the hard part we [3:13] we have a robot in our studio that moves [3:15] the camera around and the hardest part [3:17] is when it faults yeah you need a person [3:19] there to know what to do exactly so [3:21] hopefully that doesn't happen much um [3:24] like for for parts that are that are [3:27] complicated and fiddly like like wiring [3:29] Hound is especially difficult you see [3:31] how like the wiring hus kind of meets [3:32] the snake uh through the car yeah it's [3:35] it's literally like like winding like a [3:37] snake through the car you got to like [3:39] poke it through holes and and do do [3:41] various things that's super difficult [3:42] for a robot see like how they're like [3:44] putting the [3:46] uh part of the air conditioning system [3:48] there right um so you use like a little [3:51] bit of mechanical assistance with the [3:53] winch and whatnot but then it's pretty [3:55] straightforward for the guys to just [3:57] like get that in there and they like if [3:59] they see there an issue with ap part [4:00] then like they say oh this part's got a [4:01] problem like we'll put it over here for [4:04] to you know um to get fixed like this is [4:07] like sem line is like moving slowly yeah [4:09] so like moves along um and then if um [4:13] you know it givs to like time to to get [4:15] things done like you can like stand on [4:16] this and I think you mentioned like the [4:18] the speed of the car coming out the [4:20] other side is like 1 mph or something [4:22] like that yeah super slow you want to [4:23] speed this up right yeah it's not it's [4:25] not even 1 mph it's even slower than [4:26] that right now but for SX but for but [4:29] three it's like getting close to a mph [4:31] okay okay um but walking speed is 3 m [4:34] hour so it's like only 1/3 walking speed [4:36] at 1 mph all right you can see like when [4:38] you look on the inside of the car you [4:40] can see like how many little complicated [4:42] little pieces there are a lot um you [4:45] know the things that are meant to uh for [4:49] insulation Corrosion [4:51] Protection um [4:53] airbags uh uh road noise like it's all [4:57] the stuff that gets put in here you can [4:59] see like these are like the side airbags [5:00] here okay um like most people I think [5:04] it's like pretty cool like most people [5:05] never see like the inside of the car [5:06] yeah there's a million things you never [5:07] see driving the car every day this is [5:09] like sorry guys start [5:11] [Music] [5:14] interrupt you don't mind being on like [5:17] on like you know the internet and stuff [5:19] is that cool all right YouTube's cool [5:21] and I actually don't interrupt your work [5:22] but um you know it's like you see like [5:24] how like there's like a lot of tricky [5:26] pieces and like if for a person like [5:30] this is like durable straight yeah you [5:32] know takes a bit of training get of [5:33] speed whatever but like once once you [5:36] like um basically like like a pro human [5:39] can do this super well and it's like [5:41] hard for the robots to do that but I [5:43] when we go to the like the body welding [5:45] I'll show you like what's like what's a [5:47] robot good at and you'll see like [5:48] there's tons of robots like tons of [5:50] people here tons of robots there um but [5:52] there's so much complexity and variation [5:54] here um you got like thread those wires [5:57] when it comes through especially here [5:59] yeah with this so so like this is the [6:03] car with like less stuff in it and then [6:04] it goes it's you know and we'll see the [6:06] beginning of it right and then that then [6:08] it goes all the way around gets more and [6:10] more stuff added and does it end at the [6:11] end well General Assembly ends probably [6:13] somewhere down there yeah okay so um but [6:17] you can it's interesting to see the car [6:19] get progressively more complex as we add [6:20] more parts to it you know this place uh [6:23] used to employ like about 5,000 people [6:25] and now we got like we got we got 10,000 [6:27] people just in this location yeah so [6:29] what we do is we have like tons of [6:31] shuttles and like uh we Cars ride [6:33] sharing yeah uh we got the barer rapid [6:36] transit station finally like went went [6:38] up um so just like trying to get people [6:41] here is is not easy a big challenge what [6:44] is this oh this is uh [6:47] actually like this is one of my favorite [6:49] dumb robots Okay yeah I'm a fan right [6:52] now it's pretty cool um so like there's [6:54] a lot of fancy [6:56] robots uh that like but they have like [6:58] lots of issues and they break down a [6:59] little time cuz these little guys are [7:01] super great they're like they follow [7:04] this magnetic stripe uhhuh see basically [7:06] it's like super easy to program you [7:08] don't even need to be a programmer cuz [7:10] you just like lay down the the the mag [7:12] stripe and it'll follow it yeah it just [7:13] follows the mag stripe and then it's got [7:16] uh proximity sensors in the front so if [7:18] if it sees an obstacle or sees like [7:20] something in the way it just stops and [7:22] then soon as something moves out of the [7:23] way it just keeps going and it just like [7:26] does this like a little thing all day [7:27] long like a little train like you're [7:28] were talking about robot folting out and [7:31] one of the it's like that's like where [7:34] like actually um doing things manually [7:37] can can can actually be more um more [7:41] efficient because if you have like a lot [7:43] of complicated robots particularly if [7:44] you have a 24/7 operation like we have [7:46] with model 3 uh then if the robot bols [7:49] out you got to have 24/7 like Advanced [7:51] robot technicians makes sense and then [7:53] if the robot like accidentally crashes [7:55] and like breaks a fixture then it's like [7:57] man okay now now we've got the line got [7:59] lined down it's like red alert and then [8:01] I get pulled on my cell phone at 2: in [8:03] the morning and it's like like trying to [8:05] fly apart from Germany it's like we [8:07] literally had that two days ago do you [8:08] have to when you get new robots do you [8:11] build the robots or do you order them in [8:13] and program them [8:15] so uh there's like different classes [8:18] there's many many different types of [8:20] robots so the like the giant robot that [8:23] we still lifting the car it's like [8:25] that's that that is a catalog item but [8:27] then we have to program the the motion [8:30] and then and the end effector is that is [8:33] custom so the end effector that picks up [8:34] the car drops it off that's a custom [8:36] made thing okay so it's kind of like you [8:38] kind of like buy this like powerful arm [8:41] but it's just like having an arm stuck [8:43] in the ground and then you're like okay [8:44] what does the arm do you got to tell it [8:46] everything to do yeah and then you got [8:47] to put sensors on it and put fixtures [8:50] but that's like kind of uh like that [8:52] robot over there uh that's also one of [8:54] like the ones that picks up the car oh [8:56] uh by the way these are like named after [8:58] X-Men oh oh yeah I forgot about that um [9:01] just [9:02] X-Men mob it's like mob and X-Men like [9:05] to start to run out of Nam yeah yeah [9:06] this like actually turns out a lot of X [9:07] by the way yeah okay so you can see like [9:09] this is like quite a beast of a robot [9:11] you can just buy that robot you know in [9:14] this case this a Fu robot um and uh you [9:18] can buy the robot but then the end [9:19] effector that's carrying the car um is [9:22] something that's custom and then you got [9:24] to do the programming and the like wire [9:27] in the sensors and that kind of thing so [9:29] the the level of precision of this [9:31] massive robot is it to like as far as [9:34] repeatable action is it literally the [9:36] same path every s yeah plus or minus an [9:38] inch oh no it's uh centimeter it's it's [9:41] better than that for a big robot there's [9:43] a little less Precision than a smaller [9:45] robot yeah but say a mediumsized robot [9:48] will be accurate to 2.3 mm oh okay what [9:53] is the most popular paint color coming [9:56] through here that's black black yeah it [10:00] actually varies by country um oh [10:04] interesting [10:06] like um watch out there's a dumb robot [10:08] coming through oh yeah this guy's like [10:10] pretty pretty cool like [10:14] what all right this could go wrong I [10:16] don't know you trust them more than I do [10:19] yeah okay okay all right good job good [10:22] job robot yeah know I I see a lot of [10:25] silver and I see a lot of white model X [10:28] yeah just New Jersey uh black and white [10:30] are the two most colors two most popular [10:32] colors um the white and black are are [10:36] like black slight is is slightly more [10:38] popular than white in the US but in like [10:40] Europe it's way more popular like white [10:42] is a very rare color in Europe for a car [10:44] okay um in us it's like it's it's about [10:47] even with with black black and white are [10:48] the two most common colors got it yeah [10:50] and here you can [10:51] see battery [10:54] pack this is like be like a mating [10:57] station CL the battery pack oh this is [10:59] literally connecting the battery to the [11:08] car here you can see it's like a [11:10] combination of manual and automatic so [11:13] it's it's like they're lining it up it's [11:15] like yeah exactly it's [11:16] a it's it's done primarily by the robot [11:19] system by the automated system but then [11:21] you got a person just making sure that [11:23] the fine tuning is there gotcha how do [11:25] you feel about matte matte or satin [11:28] colors ask about that a lot I actually [11:30] like the Aesthetics of mat it's really [11:33] tricky to to repair a mat so like with [11:37] you can polish it out with M um if you [11:40] get like a little ding it's really hard [11:43] to then rematch the so it looks like an [11:45] even mat you can't just like you know [11:48] that's fair point yeah um so it's it's [11:49] doable it's it's something actually we [11:52] would like to do that in the future um [11:55] but um like right now for example like [11:58] the paint Shop's really operating at [11:59] Full Tilt so adding any complexity to [12:02] the paint shop would not be wise right [12:03] now but I think it' be a cool thing to [12:05] do in the future but these are sub [12:06] assemblies so you can see like the front [12:08] rear drive units being built up and the [12:10] sub assemblies then feed the main [12:11] assembly line these are long assembly [12:14] lines [12:15] oh well it's and it's it's integrating [12:18] uh snx okay and it's making about 2,000 [12:21] cars a week it's model 3 entirely [12:24] completely separate I guess inside the [12:26] same building but separate whole [12:29] the only place where model 3 uh and SN X [12:32] come together is in the paint shop so [12:33] the paint shop is processing S3 and X um [12:38] simultaneously down the same line U but [12:40] otherwise General s separate Bud [12:43] separate um yeah everything else is [12:45] different so just the paint shop where [12:46] they come together you've mentioned [12:48] you've slept in the factory to be able [12:50] to immediately like diagnose problems [12:53] and Hands-On fix what's not right what [12:58] type of things happen that you can [12:59] immediately fix or immediately take [13:02] action on actually last last three [13:04] months last year I mostly spent at [13:06] gigafactory um uh trying to uh help fix [13:10] the battery production it's a modular [13:13] production um and it's just it's a lot [13:17] of little things like looking at at at [13:20] each uh at each little little tiny part [13:23] each process say is the process [13:25] necessary like because the best part is [13:27] no part best part process is no process [13:30] and occasionally at the design level you [13:32] think something's necessary but then [13:33] turns out it's not so it's just like [13:35] making sure connect connecting between [13:37] design um and Manufacturing uh make sure [13:40] making sure we're close to loop on that [13:43] um [13:44] uh just saying like hey is this if let's [13:47] say it's a it's like it's a lot of real [13:49] simple stuff but it's like times times a [13:52] thousand so if we have like a automated [13:54] volt driver going in like watch's the [13:56] RPM and talk settings for the volt [13:57] driver um can we make that go faster uh [14:01] usually usually can unnecessary [14:03] movements um like like for example [14:07] actually don't really like the fact that [14:08] we lift the cars over and and and back [14:11] um ideally that would be a robot handoff [14:14] yeah ifting rid of a middle stage yeah [14:17] exactly cuz the Middle St what is like [14:18] putting it on a turntable and then the [14:20] turntable is rotating and other robots [14:23] picking it up it's actually problem is [14:25] like sometimes the tun table breaks down [14:26] ow and and so okay so it's like okay [14:29] let's eliminate the turntable and just [14:31] have robot go to robot um and then you [14:33] don't have like uh turntable Breakers to [14:35] consider so it's a lot of minimizing [14:39] things that can go wrong and maximizing [14:41] the efficiency of the simple things that [14:44] go right it's like um like design [14:47] necessity of of every part of and every [14:49] process uh the speed at which um [14:53] especially the robots are going um are [14:55] there um are there any is is there any [14:59] unnecessary movement in the production [15:01] line that that isn't value added like [15:03] we're actually doing something yeah [15:05] um like [15:08] replacing elements of the production [15:09] system that are not um not needed or [15:13] redundant exactly