Humanoid Robotics: A Game Changer for Automotive Suppliers?

Hagen Wegner･Benjamin Knobloch･Riley Padovano･Dominik Boemer (FEV Consulting GmbH)

The humanoid robotics market is rapidly expanding, fueled by advancements in AI and decreasing component costs. There are many synergies between humanoid robots and software-defined electric vehicles, including mutual components and the aim to reach economies of scale in production. This presentation will highlight the synergies and challenges between these industries and explore how humanoid robot OEMs are tackling development and production today, incl. first use case examples. FEV Consulting has begun developing technology maps for multiple components of humanoid robot architectures and is helping automotive suppliers (also in Japan) identify the potential for their technologies in this new and emerging industry.

Ultra-High-Efficiency Production Technology of Fuel Cell System

NOBUYOSHI MUROMOTO (Honda Motor)

In the second-generation fuel cell system, Honda successfully established a scalable high-volume manufacturing system for fuel cell systems. By consolidating production engineering expertise cultivated through previous in-house models development, Honda launched its first mass production of fuel cells in North America. Key innovations—such as the consolidation of electrode rolls into 2 rolls, integration of MEA manufacturing processes, and complete automation of cell stack assembly—enabled substantial labor reduction, improved utilization of high-cost materials, and the shift away from operator-dependent processes. These achievements transformed the manufacturing capability into a robust production platform designed for future business expansion.

Analytical study for the effective induction heating welding of the steel pipes

Tomohiko Ariyoshi (Atori CAE)

Induction heating welding is the effective method for bonding pipes. But according to the temperature distribution on the connecting surfaces, the deformations tend to bear irregular shapes. This article describes the analytical study results on the highly efficient induction axial welding of the steel pipes.

Visualization of Residual Stress Generation Process in Press-Formed Parts through Coupled FE Analysis of Shearing and Forming Using Solid Elements

Hitoshi Ikeno･TAKANORI MIWA･HIROKI YOKOYAMA･YOSHIYUKI FUKUYAMA (PACIFIC INDUSTRIAL CO..LTD.)

To understand the residual stress generation process in press-formed parts made of ultra-high strength steel, coupled FE analysis of shearing and forming using solid elements was conducted. The predicted residual stress at the edge after shearing and subsequent forming was generally consistent with the trends observed in actual measurements, indicating that this approach can be an effective tool for evaluating the influence of various factors during processing.

Development of joining technology to improve the crash performance of automotive parts using high strength steel sheets

Tohru Okada･Takumi Mizutani･Hiroshi Horikawa･Taiga Taniguchi･Junichiro Suzuki･Hiroki Fujimoto･Hiroshi Yoshida (Nippon Steel Corporation)

To reduce the weight of automobile body, it is necessary to utilize the full potential of high strength steel sheets, and to achieve this, measures to prevent fractures in spot welds are key technology. In this paper, we report on various joining technologies to improve the crash performance of A-pillar made of 2.0 GPa-class hot stamped steel sheets.