A prototype, integrated, CAD-based robotic assembly system

An integrated system which is part of a larger project in robotic assembly is described in terms first of its separate components and then of its integrated form and performance. The parts to be assembled are previously designed by CAD, and therefore geometrical models of the parts are available in a solid modeler which is incorporated in the system. In the integrated system presented, simplified versions of the component parts of an aircraft equipment tray are recognized and located by vision from an arbitrary initial state and moved to a final state appropriate to assembly. The components of the system described are: low-level vision processing using a transputer array; an intelligent vision system integrated with a solid modeler for part recognition and location; a path planner using 2ⁿ-array tree search; and the control of a PUMA robot. The integration of the components and the performance of the prototype system are described