In final assembly, robots can apply torque consistently — but they don’t detect and account for threads that aren’t straight, bolts that don’t quite fit, fasteners that don’t align, or seals that have a defect
Pretty much all the factories I worked at had developed systems to identify and reject components not up to spec before they got anywhere near the production line. Key components were validated by suppliers before delivery, so space, time and stock shock issues were eliminated. Manufacturing processes were engineered so that things like alignment were not optional but automatically within tolerance simply by forcing components to fit together only one way.
Robots can assemble to very tight tolerances: it's only when the spec is loose that you need a chap with a mallet to fettle things. Tesla may have production issues, but I'd be surprised if they were a repeat of Japanese/American learnings of the 1970s!
Humans are funny things though. Being killed by a Frankenstein monster seems a greater fear than being killed by our fellow man. In the case of cars, it would be crazy to reject automation that offers significant reductions in fatalities, yet that is what is happening with single crash events being cited as reason enough to delay any mass roll-out.
If we applied the same logic to medicine, say cancer treatment, imagine the furore as patients were denied remedies because they had some side effects, possibly lethal in a small number of cases? Whilst the medical analogy is based on a starting point of dying, and the car logic starts with being fit and healthy, in both scenarios the outcomes are better for the group as a whole.
Perhaps it is our self-perception as invincible behind the wheel that needs more work, rather than the driverless system?
VRD