Ever think about how many time your car door is opened and closed in its lifetime? Well, Nissan estimates a door will experience 45,000 closing shoved in only ten years. That’s a lot of abrupt stops for the sensitive components inside a door to withstand. To help with quality control, Nissan just installed a robot inside its technical center in Farmington Hills, Michigan. They even gave it a catchy name: Mrs. Doorboto. That’s a clear reference to the classic 1980s song by the Styx, “Mr. Roboto.” For short, though, Nissan folks just call it Rosie.

Rosie only needs three days to subject a car door to 45,000 repetitions of opening and closing. It cycles through every six seconds by using its aluminum “hand” to grab the door handle. Rosie swings the door through its full range before giving it a shove closed. Rinse and repeat… over and over again.

The process helps Nissan pinpoint any parts on or within the door that might prematurely fail. Remember, modern doors have backlit switches that control electric motors that operate a pane of glass raised and lowered by cables through a plastic track. There’s also sound system components like speakers and small plastic clips that hold everything together. It might be a boring three days for Rosie and turn a new Pathfinder into a used crossover, but it’s nice to know Nissan is looking out for long-term durability.

References

Nissan Pathfinder

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Read our full review on the 2017 NIssan Pathfinder.