Catálogo de publicaciones - libros

To recognize geometric objects of components in assembly processes, in particular of microelectronic or micro system components, nowadays the use of vision systems is preferred. These systems are working very fast but the results depend on ambient conditions, especially of light settings. They deliver 2D object information referring to the image plane of a camera. In most sensor guided assembly systems, additional to vision systems laser displacement sensors are implemented to get information about the third dimension, the components height. In this paper a scanning method is presented which enables object recognition by using a laser positioning sensor and to use the achieved measuring values for a sensor guided assembly process.

The trend to miniaturization cannot be overseen. The use of very small electronic and electro-optical components in a variety of consumer and investment goods is leading to an increasing demand for small-scale servo actuators for micro assembly applications in production equipment. The previous generation of micro gears and micro actuators was not suited to this type of application, because of unacceptable accuracy. The Micro Harmonic Drive® gear was introduced into the market in 2001 as the world’s smallest backlash-free micro gear. It is manufactured using a modified LIGA process, called Direct-LIG. This allows the cost-effective production of extremely precise metallic gear components. In the meantime this gear has been implemented in a range of miniaturized servo actuators, which provide zero backlash, excellent repeatability and long operating life. In addition to the above-mentioned advantages this innovative product also features a central hollow shaft. This allows the design engineer to pass an optical fiber, a laser beam or media such as fluids, compressed air or vacuum along the central axis of the servo actuator. This greatly simplifies the design of machines for micro assembly applications in the semi conductor, consumer goods, medical and optical fields. In this paper we will describe the development history, key features and applications of this innovative drive solution.

Because of intensification of the international market situation the industry is forced to extend the product range and to shorten the period of time between the model changes in order to put new products on the market. Standards that allow generating product and resource variants by creating reusable structures (templates) have to be worked out to support the simultaneous engineering process. The challenge is the parallelisation of the product development and the production planning as far as possible to generate a robust production. In process planning as a part of assembly planning, the assembly processes and their sequence have to be defined and the motion path and speed of an assembly process can be visualized and optimized by Digital Mock-Up (DMU). Realising an early connection between product design and assembly planning new strategies have to be developed.

This paper presents a morphological classification of approaches to the assembly of hybrid microsystems or hybrid MEMS. The need for the presented classification comes from the fact that at the moment only limited well structured knowledge is available on how to assemble hybrid MEMS. The classification is based and evaluated on the basis of cases found in literature. The scheme is used in a case study to analyze the assembly process of die encapsulation.

This paper discusses the problems of micro-scale part manipulation and assembly. Parts less than 10×10×10 cm3 in size need special attention when they are designed. There is a need for handling tools, feeding systems, and fastening methods that resemble macro-scale industrial systems but are of a special nature. No effort has been made prior to this presentation to collect the data in any systematic form for designers. The Finnish DFA-Tool software version 3.0 is the first attempt to try to formulate this problematic in a systematic and suitable presentation for product designers.

This paper presents the tolerance budgeting for the coarse assembly step in a novel coarse-fine strategy for micro-assembly. The final assembly step is to be performed using MEMS-based functionality that remains part of the product. Total tolerance build-up due to the coarse assembly and dimensional inaccuracies has been determined for the alignment of a single mode optical fibre to a laser diode, a challenging problem in optical telecommunication.

Producing an automated assembly and test machine is a lengthy process consisting of numerous stages. It can involve several iterations through some or, very occasionally, all of these stages. There is one major similarity linking these stages; the requirement for consistent and accurate information. This unifying requirement makes communication a crucial, but often overlooked, aspect of producing an assembly automation machine. It is often the case that the simplest and most reliable method of communication is a visual representation or “Visualisation”. Visualisation can and does take many forms; anything from sketches on napkins to detailed 3D computer images. All formats have benefits as well as drawbacks. This paper looks at the role of visualisation and its importance within the production of an automated assembly and test machine. It also further develops the issues and problems faced by the assembly automation industry as well as looking in greater detail at the potential solutions and how these are being developed and expanded on by European research projects.

Conventional machining methods have been developed to meet the standards of ultra precision machining. Special milling processes utilizing monocrystalline diamond tools, the so-called fly-cutting processes, are used successfully to manufacture highly precise microstructures with an optical surface finish. In micro assembly often positioning accuracies of only a few micro meters are needed. An approach of the Fraunhofer IPT is to achieve these accuracies using passive alignment strategies. In this paper, the ultra precision machining of the v-groove structures as well as their passive alignment capacities for micro assembly tasks are presented.

In this paper we present a new concept of miniaturized production line for the assembly of small components. The concept is based on miniature robotic cells that work together. A miniature parallel robot has been developed for this purpose and is presented in this paper.

Miniaturization and mechatronics are important technological trends of the last years and will be gaining importance in the future. The micro-mechatronical products which have already been put on the market are currently designed to meet the abilities of existing production techniques and are manufactured as mass products in specialized and capital intensive plants. In order to make miniaturized mechatronical systems more attractive for the market, their production must be made possible in small and medium volumes at acceptable costs. A holistic approach for the conception of a scalable micro production which consists of the development of an integrated planning process as well as the creation of a flexible production platform with general process modules is presented and demonstrated considering as example the realization of a scalable production for a micro-mechatronical actuator. The approach is characterized by a high level of flexibility considering joining technologies as well as small space requirements. A reduction of capital costs for production technology and a step wise extension of the production are achieved.