New concepts and processes for mounting circuit boards in lot size 1

There are two bottlenecks of broader applications of industrial robots: off-line-programming must be more efficiently used and the accurate positioning must be accieved by sensor feedback if necessary. Today the flexibility of industrial robot cells generally refers to the flexibility of the programmable handling devices, but not to the peripherals. However, with a large number of parts to be supplied the peripherals account for the largest part of the investment expenditure. The following demonstrates a concept which, by using image recognition in parts supply and capture of gripping and component tolerances permits component-flexible parts supply capable of automatic changeover. Furthermore a process is demonstrated and examined which enables optimal gauging and assembly toleranced parts with respect to cycle times. This is realized by two robots with fully overlapping workspaces. One robot is handling the magazines and the pc boards while the other robot is mounting the components. The tolerances in the provision of components and the tolerances of the components itself is controled by vision system. The robot programms are generated automatically using the CAD datas of the pc board and the components