Jhodgesatmb

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Hey Randy, Is it possible to get a close up view of the structures from eye level? Just to get a real world idea of the scale of this massive structure. From up above everything looks like lego bricks, I'm sure it must feel different from where a person would be standing on ground and looking over. Thanks.
All 4 of the QuadSquad video at eye level when there are no workers around, and sometimes they zoom in from far enough away that they can bring the drones down pretty low and still be a good distance away. Jeff Robert’s often provides some ground level footage at the end of his videos taken from where the car is. Joe Tegtmeyer today shot some video at the second story level of the workers putting down concrete floor. It is not uncommon for Randy to do the same, and Jack.

Joe usually shoots early in the morning (every other day), Jeff around noon (daily), and Randy in the late afternoon (most week days). Jack’s times are variable. It takes each of them many hours to integrate and add audio, add remarks, render the video, and upload to YouTube, so you can expect to see Joe and Jeff’s videos in the late afternoon and into the evening, and Randy’s videos are usually in the morning.
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BoomTrooper

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Hey Randy, Is it possible to get a close up view of the structures from eye level? Just to get a real world idea of the scale of this massive structure. From up above everything looks like lego bricks, I'm sure it must feel different from where a person would be standing on ground and looking over. Thanks.
This is extremely difficult and risky, mainly due to the constant movement of vehicles moving around the site, not to mention the small army of cranes dotting the landscape now. Even from where I launch from, it looks huge, but the BEST place to be that highlights the size and has a feeling of everything jumping out at you is looking at the south at the site from Harold Green road near the first entrance where we usually see the security vehicle parked. There's something about being right here and looking at the site with your own eyes that makes it look even bigger than from the side of the road. I'll try to get a shot from this area instead, but not sure how well it will come through because things still tend to look a bit smaller through the lens.
 


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I'm guessing that not much work could be done in the next couple of days due to the adverse weather. Anyway I have a general feeling that not enough workers/ teams are present on the job site. They could've done things faster if they had more hands working on multiple sites simultaneously. There are so much empty spaces in between, which look like would see work only when the corresponding teams from other sites finish up. :sneaky:
 
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BoomTrooper

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Footage from Tuesday afternoon shows structural steel sections getting closer and closer to joining:

 

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Anyone have any insight into why the factory is being built as a primarily 2 story structure? What is the second story used for? I see some areas that have more than 2 stories where the floors are closer together and assume that those are office/conference areas or at least areas that don't have to have large machinery so the floors can be relative to people height.

But there are large sections where the second floor seems to have a higher ceiling than even the first floor. I'd think (not that I have any background or useful knowledge on this front) that the heavy machines and the vehicles themselves would be easier to build/maintain/use if they were all at ground level. Plus that way as vehicles roll off the assembly line there is no awkward ramp down from the second floor.

Perhaps the second floor is used to assemble smaller sub-assemblies? Or the batteries themselves? Either way, though you still need to get raw materials up there and get the completed assemblies back down to ground level somewhere.
 


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Anyone have any insight into why the factory is being built as a primarily 2 story structure?
Well, I assume that much of the building is designed to fit the largest machines. From that, you get the height. That is then divided by cheaper ways to build the structure.

Most of their existing factories are actually the size of the 'floors' as you call them, which are pretty large (like two or three stories themselves depending on how you count).

The first Gigafactory is built like this. I assume it's a pattern of cheap and monolithic that Elon likes.

-Crissa
 

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I should clarify that I'm talking about 2 stories as a building that has 2 floors with usable space between them and a roof. Not as a height relative to human scale buildings with 8-12 foot ceilings.
 

Jhodgesatmb

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Of the factory sections I know of: shipping and receiving, general assembly, body in white, powertrain, stamping, battery, painting, and casting, the painting area in other Tesla factories is the highest and that seems to be in the long steel building. We all know where stamping and casting will be and they are single-storey sections. I am guessing that the ‘short’ sections in the western section will be for shipping and receiving. Battery and power train could be on upper floors and conveyored to the lower floors. I agree that the buildings are very complex and, except for the more obvious sections, it is kind of a mystery what they will do with all of it.
 

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Of the factory sections I know of: shipping and receiving, general assembly, body in white, powertrain, stamping, battery, painting, and casting, the painting area in other Tesla factories is the highest and that seems to be in the long steel building. We all know where stamping and casting will be and they are single-storey sections. I am guessing that the ‘short’ sections in the western section will be for shipping and receiving. Battery and power train could be on upper floors and conveyored to the lower floors. I agree that the buildings are very complex and, except for the more obvious sections, it is kind of a mystery what they will do with all of it.
And I'm guessing that the walls will get put in before the majority of the assembly line hardware is placed. So unless we work there or Tesla opens up to tours, we'll probably never get a good understanding of what is done where. I suppose there are trade secrets involved so I don't blame them. But I'm pretty ignorant about how to put one of these factories together so I wouldn't be very capable of causing harm. Perhaps they will give me a tour sometime. Wishing...
 

Jhodgesatmb

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And I'm guessing that the walls will get put in before the majority of the assembly line hardware is placed. So unless we work there or Tesla opens up to tours, we'll probably never get a good understanding of what is done where. I suppose there are trade secrets involved so I don't blame them. But I'm pretty ignorant about how to put one of these factories together so I wouldn't be very capable of causing harm. Perhaps they will give me a tour sometime. Wishing...
I bet they will give tours at some point. I’d love to take one especially after watching it go up so intensely for a year by then.
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