A mini work-cell for handling and assembling microcomponents

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was the design, development, and test of a flexible and reconfigurable experimental setup for the automatic manipulation of microcomponents, enhanced by an accurately developed vision-based control. Design/methodology/approach – To achieve a flexible and reconfigurable system, an experimental setup based on 4 degrees of freedom robot and a two-camera vision system was designed. Vision-based strategies were adopted to suitably support the motion system in easily performing precise manipulation operations. A portable and flexible program, incorporating the machine vision module and the control module of the task operation, was developed. Non-conventional calibration strategies were also conceived for the complete calibration of the work-cell. The developed setup was tested and exploited in the execution of repetitive tests of the grasping and releasing of microcomponents, testing also different grasping and releasing strategies. Findings – The system showed its ability in...

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