Episode 1: "You Asked For It" Tour -- Day 1: Slate Factory Tour

[<3 Crank Windows]

The tour kicks off in Warsaw, IN, with a tour of the Slate factory — including some stuff we've never shown anyone.

 

[kvermeer]

New video up!



As a play-by-play, I'm going to note some interesting stuff that I see as an industrial controls engineer which might not matter to you in your truck but I'm familiar with and you might not be:

The shot at 0:05 has a view under the rocker panels, which I hadn't seen before:

I know Slate has running boards in the Maker, but I'm wondering what it would take to make some custom ones.

At 0:06 (yes, moving slow, but they cut through scenes so fast) you can see the back of the headlamp assembly:

Wonder if there will be aftermarket halo lights available that fit the same enclosure. I also wonder what they're learning from the word "Chassis" scrawled on the whiteboard behind the hood latch that's so important they had to make a smiley face and write "SAVE" in the corner, and I want one of those crew neck sweatshirts on the merch store. I am surprised they're wearing crew necks in Warsaw, it's currently a heat index over 100 so that might be recycled B-roll.

I'm surprised that they've got a uniform for "CAMERA CREW" on the wall at the factory:

Whose cameras are those? Presumably the person holding the camera here is in blue, and we've seen 30 seconds of factory shots in the past, but are we going to see more in the future?

That robot moving the body-in-white is being driven by the programmer with the teach pendant at the bottom:

He's running it in test mode, holding the deadman and shift-forward button, not yet in full auto. It's still got the lifting eyes and even a sling installed after being dropped in, that paper taped to J5 is a calibration and mastering report from the factory...it's still being commissioned. It's a Fanuc M2000iA: https://www.fanucamerica.com/download/asset/41013?download which is an absolute beast of a robot, I've got hundreds of hours on those little M710iC and arc mate 120iD weld robots but the heavy lift ones are on another level.

On that note, there's a general-purpose welding robot, love those hollow-wrist units, and there's a whole assembly and spot welding cell:

Hopefully the thing is foreshortened quite a bit, because keeping those all coordinated is a nightmare. Fanuc DCS or "Dual check safety" cartesian position checks do a good job of keeping robots from crashing into each other, but it's the programmer's job to ensure that they take turns and never have a reason to make use of those checks. I've not used BizLink cable management before, I'll have to have them quote for our next cell. That shot shows them running a "dry cycle", moving the robots through their paths without any product in place and just pretending that sensors made or weld commands were completed. Can't quite read the label on those contractor vests to see who their Fanuc ASI is, I'd be curious to learn if they're doing those in-house or outsourcing some of that work.

I get why the host is wearing Meta glasses - they're probably great for filming, way less obtrusive than a GoPro on your hard hat - but I hate that little blinking white light by his right eye all the same:

When the camera defocused during that shot, the cabinets in the background showed that they're using Bosch-Rexroth resistance welding controllers for the spot welders:

(More at https://www.boschrexroth.com/en/us/c/resistance-welding/). It must be so nice to work in a green-field (brown-field, I guess) development environment where they're not forced to fix some ancient Entron weld controller with mercury vapor current amplifiers that they've had since the 60s!

The top-center thing on this giant EOAT (end-of-arm-tool) labeled "230125-HI6" or something is an SMC EX600 remote IO valve controller:

With that component, they only have to run that teal Ethernet cable, blue air hose, and yellow 24V power up the robot arm through the dark blue BizLink cable management system, and they can put basically as many sensors and valves as they want out on the tool. They've got a whole block of spares. The shiny silver rounded boxes are power clamps: https://www.smcusa.com/products/ckz2n50-steel-body-naams-power-clamp-cylinder-50-bore~161318. SMC is based in Japan but their North American headquarters are right down the road in Indianapolis. I've had to wait for weeks for products from Japan in the past, but if they're buying standard, stocked parts, it should take no time at all to get to Warsaw!

I'm curious what cable harness they're running through the seat back shown at 1:40:

That's not part of an occupant classification system or seatbelt reminder system which uses weight/pressure sensors in the seat base. It's not power lumbar adjust, and I wouldn't expect the buckle switch to go there, perhaps it's for seat-mounted side/thorax airbags?

I'd love it if someone in Scottsdale or wherever the next events are could stick a camera on a selfie stick up near the static truck's DeDion tube and grab a close-up of that motor label:

JJE SD180 compatible?

Love to see the roll cage and fastback/open-air trim going together:

I know that's been giving them trouble.

Looks like there might be quite a bit of space under the front seats:

which is a nice spot to tuck seldom-used stuff... or to misplace often-used stuff!

it's fascinating that they're just laying some concrete for a test track as they drive the vehicles off the line.

I've been involved in some projects with 4-poster end-of-line shake test machines, we shake stuff on the line in a quiet room where you can ID the squeak. But just laying some concrete and painting some yellow lines is a lot easier! I wonder if they'll have microphones/accelerometers/dataloggers on the trucks as they drive that track, operator subjective results are notoriously inconsistent.

That's been my third-favorite video from Slate so far, just behind the Munro engineering philosophy review vids. Awesome stuff, I'll keep the playlist bookmarked!

 

[007]

Everyone in the building is assembled for the opening shot.

 

[kvermeer]

I posted some comments on the other thread, moving them here [edit - they got moved to the comment above].

 

[tubes]

This is all fantastic stuff! But we have to figure out what to do about this tour!

We have 3 threads posting great stuff, some duplicate. Somehow, I think we have to find a way to focus this tour.

Dear @Administrator , can you help?

I think our esteemed long time member @AZFox says it all:
"Now the fun begins...

Eagle-eyed internet randos will spot a bunch of things I didn't notice. "

True. And I want to see those things, but all in one place.

 

[tubes]

New video up!



As a play-by-play, I'm going to note some interesting stuff that I see as an industrial controls engineer which might not matter to you in your truck but I'm familiar with and you might not be:

The shot at 0:05 has a view under the rocker panels, which I hadn't seen before:

I know Slate has running boards in the Maker, but I'm wondering what it would take to make some custom ones.

At 0:06 (yes, moving slow, but they cut through scenes so fast) you can see the back of the headlamp assembly:

Wonder if there will be aftermarket halo lights available that fit the same enclosure. I also wonder what they're learning from the word "Chassis" scrawled on the whiteboard behind the hood latch that's so important they had to make a smiley face and write "SAVE" in the corner, and I want one of those crew neck sweatshirts on the merch store. I am surprised they're wearing crew necks in Warsaw, it's currently a heat index over 100 so that might be recycled B-roll.

I'm surprised that they've got a uniform for "CAMERA CREW" on the wall at the factory:

Whose cameras are those? Presumably the person holding the camera here is in blue, and we've seen 30 seconds of factory shots in the past, but are we going to see more in the future?

That robot moving the body-in-white is being driven by the programmer with the teach pendant at the bottom:

He's running it in test mode, holding the deadman and shift-forward button, not yet in full auto. It's still got the lifting eyes and even a sling installed after being dropped in, that paper taped to J5 is a calibration and mastering report from the factory...it's still being commissioned. It's a Fanuc M2000iA: https://www.fanucamerica.com/download/asset/41013?download which is an absolute beast of a robot, I've got hundreds of hours on those little M710iC and arc mate 120iD weld robots but the heavy lift ones are on another level.

On that note, there's a general-purpose welding robot, love those hollow-wrist units, and there's a whole assembly and spot welding cell:

Hopefully the thing is foreshortened quite a bit, because keeping those all coordinated is a nightmare. Fanuc DCS or "Dual check safety" cartesian position checks do a good job of keeping robots from crashing into each other, but it's the programmer's job to ensure that they take turns and never have a reason to make use of those checks. I've not used BizLink cable management before, I'll have to have them quote for our next cell. That shot shows them running a "dry cycle", moving the robots through their paths without any product in place and just pretending that sensors made or weld commands were completed. Can't quite read the label on those contractor vests to see who their Fanuc ASI is, I'd be curious to learn if they're doing those in-house or outsourcing some of that work.

I get why the host is wearing Meta glasses - they're probably great for filming, way less obtrusive than a GoPro on your hard hat - but I hate that little blinking white light by his right eye all the same:

When the camera defocused during that shot, the cabinets in the background showed that they're using Bosch-Rexroth resistance welding controllers for the spot welders:

(More at https://www.boschrexroth.com/en/us/c/resistance-welding/). It must be so nice to work in a green-field (brown-field, I guess) development environment where they're not forced to fix some ancient Entron weld controller with mercury vapor current amplifiers that they've had since the 60s!

The top-center thing on this giant EOAT (end-of-arm-tool) labeled "230125-HI6" or something is an SMC EX600 remote IO valve controller:

With that component, they only have to run that teal Ethernet cable, blue air hose, and yellow 24V power up the robot arm through the dark blue BizLink cable management system, and they can put basically as many sensors and valves as they want out on the tool. They've got a whole block of spares. The shiny silver rounded boxes are power clamps: https://www.smcusa.com/products/ckz2n50-steel-body-naams-power-clamp-cylinder-50-bore~161318. SMC is based in Japan but their North American headquarters are right down the road in Indianapolis. I've had to wait for weeks for products from Japan in the past, but if they're buying standard, stocked parts, it should take no time at all to get to Warsaw!

I'm curious what cable harness they're running through the seat back shown at 1:40:

That's not part of an occupant classification system or seatbelt reminder system which uses weight/pressure sensors in the seat base. It's not power lumbar adjust, and I wouldn't expect the buckle switch to go there, perhaps it's for seat-mounted side/thorax airbags?

I'd love it if someone in Scottsdale or wherever the next events are could stick a camera on a selfie stick up near the static truck's DeDion tube and grab a close-up of that motor label:

JJE SD180 compatible?

Love to see the roll cage and fastback/open-air trim going together:

I know that's been giving them trouble.

Looks like there might be quite a bit of space under the front seats:

which is a nice spot to tuck seldom-used stuff... or to misplace often-used stuff!

it's fascinating that they're just laying some concrete for a test track as they drive the vehicles off the line.

I've been involved in some projects with 4-poster end-of-line shake test machines, we shake stuff on the line in a quiet room where you can ID the squeak. But just laying some concrete and painting some yellow lines is a lot easier! I wonder if they'll have microphones/accelerometers/dataloggers on the trucks as they drive that track, operator subjective results are notoriously inconsistent.

That's been my third-favorite video from Slate so far, just behind the Munro engineering philosophy review vids. Awesome stuff, I'll keep the playlist bookmarked!

All I can say, @kvermeer , is AWESOME! @AZFox said people will find details, and you followed up minutes later.

From my 10000 ft view, all I got out of this was it was in no way Production (PVT). They are a ways off. I'm hoping this is last June, but who knows? Your noticing people wearing sweaters makes me hope it was last May, but maybe the factory is just running cold.

I still think PVT won't start until at least September 23, because someone (Chris Barman?) said they are still working on building the factory until the end of summer.

 

[Administrator]

This is all fantastic stuff! But we have to figure out what to do about this tour!

We have 3 threads posting great stuff, some duplicate. Somehow, I think we have to find a way to focus this tour.

Dear @Administrator , can you help?

I think our esteemed long time member @AZFox says it all:
"Now the fun begins...

Eagle-eyed internet randos will spot a bunch of things I didn't notice. "

True. And I want to see those things, but all in one place.

We can have a different thread for each episode, that way the discussion can be focused on what’s revealed/covered during that episode / tour stop.

If it gets to be too scattered I can always merge everything into one mega thread.

 

[tubes]

We can have a different thread for each episode, that way the discussion can be focused on what’s revealed/covered during that episode / tour stop.

If it gets to be too scattered I can always merge everything into one mega thread.

OK, let's see how this shakes out over the next few days. My gut feel is one thread per episode might be good.

 

[007]

At 1:05 the host talks about the body-in-white dipping in the big old tank and moving across the way. I thought the body and E-Coating were done elsewhere.

 

[tubes]

At 1:05 the host talks about the body-in-white dipping in the big old tank and moving across the way. I thought the body and E-Coating were done elsewhere.

Nope. They get parts of the body delivered, the robots assemble them, and then they dunk them for e-coating. That's been their story since earlier this year. (Unsure exactly how large the parts are that the robots assemble.)

What they don't do is any painting.

 

[DaveHathaway]

All I can say is that as a hype video to layman's eyes, this was fantastic.

 

[TheMagician]

New video up!



As a play-by-play, I'm going to note some interesting stuff that I see as an industrial controls engineer which might not matter to you in your truck but I'm familiar with and you might not be:

Holy crap, that was quite the analysis kvemeer, thank you. Love this forum (but feel like I might be one of the dumber guys on here (lol).

 

[Frozen North]

I posted some comments on the other thread, moving them here. As a play-by-play, I'm going to note some interesting stuff that I see as an industrial controls engineer which might not matter to you in your truck but I'm familiar with and you might not be:

The shot at 0:05 has a view under the rocker panels, which I hadn't seen before:

I know Slate has running boards in the Maker, but I'm wondering what it would take to make some custom ones.

At 0:06 (yes, moving slow, but they cut through scenes so fast) you can see the back of the headlamp assembly:

Wonder if there will be aftermarket halo lights available that fit the same enclosure. I also wonder what they're learning from the word "Chassis" scrawled on the whiteboard behind the hood latch that's so important they had to make a smiley face and write "SAVE" in the corner, and I want one of those crew neck sweatshirts on the merch store. I am surprised they're wearing crew necks in Warsaw, it's currently a heat index over 100 so that might be recycled B-roll.

I'm surprised that they've got a uniform for "CAMERA CREW" on the wall at the factory:

Whose cameras are those? Presumably the person holding the camera here is in blue, and we've seen 30 seconds of factory shots in the past, but are we going to see more in the future?

That robot moving the body-in-white is being driven by the programmer with the teach pendant at the bottom:

He's running it in test mode, holding the deadman and shift-forward button, not yet in full auto. It's still got the lifting eyes and even a sling installed after being dropped in, that paper taped to J5 is a calibration and mastering report from the factory...it's still being commissioned. It's a Fanuc M2000iA: https://www.fanucamerica.com/download/asset/41013?download which is an absolute beast of a robot, I've got hundreds of hours on those little M710iC and arc mate 120iD weld robots but the heavy lift ones are on another level.

On that note, there's a general-purpose welding robot, love those hollow-wrist units, and there's a whole assembly and spot welding cell:

Hopefully the thing is foreshortened quite a bit, because keeping those all coordinated is a nightmare. Fanuc DCS or "Dual check safety" cartesian position checks do a good job of keeping robots from crashing into each other, but it's the programmer's job to ensure that they take turns and never have a reason to make use of those checks. I've not used BizLink cable management before, I'll have to have them quote for our next cell. That shot shows them running a "dry cycle", moving the robots through their paths without any product in place and just pretending that sensors made or weld commands were completed. Can't quite read the label on those contractor vests to see who their Fanuc ASI is, I'd be curious to learn if they're doing those in-house or outsourcing some of that work.

I get why the host is wearing Meta glasses - they're probably great for filming, way less obtrusive than a GoPro on your hard hat - but I hate that little blinking white light by his right eye all the same:

When the camera defocused during that shot, the cabinets in the background showed that they're using Bosch-Rexroth resistance welding controllers for the spot welders:

(More at https://www.boschrexroth.com/en/us/c/resistance-welding/). It must be so nice to work in a green-field (brown-field, I guess) development environment where they're not forced to fix some ancient Entron weld controller with mercury vapor current amplifiers that they've had since the 60s!

The top-center thing on this giant EOAT (end-of-arm-tool) labeled "230125-HI6" or something is an SMC EX600 remote IO valve controller:

With that component, they only have to run that teal Ethernet cable, blue air hose, and yellow 24V power up the robot arm through the dark blue BizLink cable management system, and they can put basically as many sensors and valves as they want out on the tool. They've got a whole block of spares. The shiny silver rounded boxes are power clamps: https://www.smcusa.com/products/ckz2n50-steel-body-naams-power-clamp-cylinder-50-bore~161318. SMC is based in Japan but their North American headquarters are right down the road in Indianapolis. I've had to wait for weeks for products from Japan in the past, but if they're buying standard, stocked parts, it should take no time at all to get to Warsaw!

I'm curious what cable harness they're running through the seat back shown at 1:40:

That's not part of an occupant classification system or seatbelt reminder system which uses weight/pressure sensors in the seat base. It's not power lumbar adjust, and I wouldn't expect the buckle switch to go there, perhaps it's for seat-mounted side/thorax airbags?

I'd love it if someone in Scottsdale or wherever the next events are could stick a camera on a selfie stick up near the static truck's DeDion tube and grab a close-up of that motor label:

JJE SD180 compatible?

Love to see the roll cage and fastback/open-air trim going together:

I know that's been giving them trouble.

Looks like there might be quite a bit of space under the front seats:

which is a nice spot to tuck seldom-used stuff... or to misplace often-used stuff!

it's fascinating that they're just laying some concrete for a test track as they drive the vehicles off the line.

I've been involved in some projects with 4-poster end-of-line shake test machines, we shake stuff on the line in a quiet room where you can ID the squeak. But just laying some concrete and painting some yellow lines is a lot easier! I wonder if they'll have microphones/accelerometers/dataloggers on the trucks as they drive that track, operator subjective results are notoriously inconsistent.

That's been my third-favorite video from Slate so far, just behind the Munro engineering philosophy review vids. Awesome stuff, I'll keep the playlist bookmarked!

Wow, kvermeer. Thanks.

I am a real sucker for the more detail oriented technical aspects of damn near anything, and that was great.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your knowledge and educate us a bit.

 

[tubes]

Kevin's (@kvermeer ) analysis blows me away. I had to go through the post and video again. Great stuff.

All I can add, as best as I can remember, is the factory is brownfield, but they had to replace most of the floor to handle some of the equipment with torque, like robots. Somewhere in an old video they quote an almost unbelievable volume of concrete. And regarding the robots, I think another old video mentioned some or all of them are lightly used, but apparently are not ancient 1960s Entrons as Kevin helped us understand.

Finally, I think I would have missed that they were messing around with a fastback/open air version. Great freeze frame. Indeed, they are studying it in depth.

 

[AZFox]

I learn something new nearly every day on this forum.

Today it was that "Dual check safety" cartesian position checks do a good job of keeping robots from crashing into each other.

Who knew?!