The robots are accurate, but the cables are not. Pick and place robots deal with uniformly sized parts that come in nice reels.

Cables and tape are not as uniform and have a tendency to move in random directions.

> Cables and tape are not as uniform and have a tendency to move in random directions.

I'm sure someone's probably already thought of this, but couldn't you deal with that by having two manipulators that hold the cable by both ends while keeping a small amount of tension on it? The cable could be picked up by dispensing it through a narrow U-shaped hole (to stop the loose end for grasping), or by gluing one end to a dispenser reel then having the one of the manipulators follow the cable to the other end like a person would pull a rope through their fingers.

Pick 'n place are usually only XYZ fixed-envelope cartesian systems with additional part rotation about one axis. Sometimes the XY is replaced with dual rotary units (SCARA), or XYZ are replaced with delta systems. See https://www.valin.com/resources/articles/five-types-of-indus... for a good overview here. Plugging in cables requires fine and reliable gripping at two ends plus additional degrees of freedom, and a clear path through a more complex motion envelope for access. This generally necessitates a move to arms, which come with additional issues (play at extreme positions, repeatability constraints, higher cost, power and space requirements, non-square envelope, slower motion, etc.) Having two of these work together on a flexible part means very fiddly parallel control of two systems with these drawbacks. Basically it's expensive because good end effectors cost a lot, parallel control exceeds conventional industrial requirements, industrial control systems are purposefully non-standardized, sensors have to be added in an application-specific manner and subsystems prototyped as requirements are identified, and experienced talent is hard to find.

I think it’s in part due to the pressure thresholds to put cables in, as too little pressure means the cable isn’t connected but too much could damage either the cable or thing it’s attaching to.

Also chips are rigid bodies, while tape & ribbon is flexible and can push back and fold in unpredictable ways.

Reminds me of an old matsci engineering prof I had "everything you need to know about mechanics is f=ma and you can't push on a rope".

Maybe part of the success is in pre-packaging the wire and ribbon to act predictably, similar to how ribbons of surface mount components come on uniform tape reels instead of loosely in containers. You can crease or bend things to be predisposed to movement in certain directions.

Don't you then 'just' use a ribbon with a plug & socket. PS4 is massive, size constraints can't be that tight?