There’s a JLR employee who will be working non-stop throughout the Christmas period – a robot called ‘Rudy’ who carries out a lifetime of door usage checks before a car is allowed in.

Rudy the robot is JLR’s “trusted automated colleague” that operates in minus 40 degree conditions to ensure the durability of JLR vehicle doors.

Employed at the company’s Gaydon facility, Rudy opens and closes the door of a test vehicle 84,000 times over 12 weeks in sub-zero temperatures to simulate a lifetime of use. This means that during the Christmas period alone, Rudy will open a Range Rover door more than 14,000 times.

JLR claims that a full 12-week testing cycle is equivalent to a human lifting weights in a gym three times a week for over 17 years – although gym-goers don’t tend to result in temperatures similar to those found in the North Pole. Rudy also operates in high temperatures, similar to those in California’s arid Death Valley.

Thomas Mueller, Executive Director of Product Engineering at JLR, said: “The quality of the entire customer ownership experience is a top priority at JLR. Rudy is just one of our essential robots representing our rigorous vehicle component testing program, dedicated to evaluating vehicle parts under the most extreme conditions over a lifetime of simulated use.

“This helps ensure their durability and gives our customers the quality levels expected of a modern luxury brand.” »

JLR’s Gaydon facility houses a number of simulation facilities which allow the brand to test real-world conditions in a central location. It even has a tarmac test track that incorporates speed bumps and manhole covers to help testers replicate real-world road hazards.