RoButt Sits Down on the Job

Ford in Europe has developed a robot that makes an arse of itself.

The cheeky robot called RoButt moves like a human backside and perfectly simulates how drivers and passengers get in and out of their car seats.

Engineers used pressure maps to establish a “perch pattern,” the data allowing them to test the wear and tear of materials using the robot to mimic the most common paths.

Svenja Froehlich, a durability engineer at Ford’s European HQ, in Cologne, Germany, says RoButt, based on an average-sized large man, was used to simulate 10 years of driving in just three weeks as part of testing for the new Fiesta – sitting down and getting up 25,000 times.

“From the first moment we get into a car, the seat creates an impression of comfort and quality,” Froehlich says in a statement.

“Previously, we used pneumatic cylinders that simply moved up and down. With the RoButt, we now are able to replicate very accurately how people really behave.”

The RoButt test is being rolled out for all Ford vehicles in Europe.