Planning of a microassembly task in a flexible microrobot cell

After introducing a flexible microrobot cell that has been developed at the University of Karlsruhe, we present the assembly planning system of this cell, which is tailored to the specific needs of microassembly. Important differences between conventional (macro-) assembly and microassembly are discussed. These must to be taken into account at the assembly planning level to be able to perform an efficient microassembly. A formal description of a planning procedure is presented and planning algorithms are described. The planning system has been tested by an example of an automatic assembly planning of the worldwide smallest commercially available micromotor made by Faulhaber, German. The test results achieved are demonstrated.