Robotic blacksmithing: A technology that could revive US manufacturing

Robots already assemble and weld products in factories. Can they make the components parts themselves, too? Although it may not be obvious, there’s a close link between manufacturing technology and innovation. Elon Musk often talks of the machines that build the machines as being the real enabler in both his space and automotive businesses. Using less-expensive, more scalable processes allows Space X to launch missions on budgets and with speed that would be unthinkable using NASA’s old-school manufacturing methods. And the new Tesla Cybertruck’s unorthodox design appears to take advantage of a simplified manufacturing process that does away with die stamping metal in favor of bending and folding metal sheets.