Automatic control system of a microrobot-based microassembly station using computer vision

The assembly of complex microsystems consisting of several single components (i.e. hybrid microsystems) is a difficult task that is seen to be a real challenge for the robotics research community. It is necessary to conceive flexible, highly precise and fast microassembly devices and methods. In this paper, the development of a microrobot-based microassembly station is presented. Mobile piezoelectric microrobots with dimensions of some cm(3) and with at least 5 DOF can perform various manipulations either under a light microscope or within the vacuum chamber of a scanning electron microscope. The control system of the microassembly station is described. The main attention is given to a vision-based sensor system for automatic robot control and a re-configurable parallel computer array enabling the station to work in real-time.