Vision guided pick and place in a minifactory environment

Abstract

We describe new end effector developments in-corporating microscope vision and gripping mechanisms for pick and place assembly of small components in a minifactory environment. Instead of performing microassembly under a microscope, in minifactory each assembly agent is equipped with its own microscope. This arrangement facilitates flow-through manufacturing as opposed to work cell approaches. To this end, we have developed a series of new manipulator end effectors, each of which incorporates a long-range objective lens, coaxial illumination, folded optics, and a camera. Modular gripping and other mechanisms are mounted on a universal plate beneath the end effector. A first type uses vacuum and pressure to pick and place components of a lens assembly. A second type incorporates an off-the-shelf tweezer with electromagnetic actuation. The third type incorporates a novel rotation mechanism and MEMS-based gripper which can pick a part from a wafer, rotate it through an angle, and snap the part into a receptacle on a second wafer.