If you are back at work today after the holidays be happy to know that the robots and people that assemble GM engines are back at it too. We got tipped off to a truly cool video that followed the whole process of building a GM four banger at the legendary Tonawanda plant in NY. Starting with semi-finished blocks and cranks, the entire assembly, step by step is documented.

Watching the robots work is pretty wild stuff, especially the one that plugs the cranks into the engines. The level of precision and programming involved is something else, as nicking or scratching crankshafts during the installation process would result in engine failures and severely reduced service life.

Note which jobs are performed by humanoids and which are robotic. For instance, the timing chain installation is a human job. Watching the worker install it, the reasons are easy to see. The movements and deftness of slipping the chain over and around the gears is probably not something the robots can do….yet!

It would really be neat to see what this process looked like 30 years ago. It is even more interesting to think about what the process will look like 30 years from now!

Thanks for the tip SilverBuick!