Mesh Fixture Layout for Flexible Robotic Component Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional robotic assembly fixtures are time-consuming and expensive to design and set up, requiring precise calibration and specific design for each component, leading to inefficiencies and increased risk of errors in robotic movements.
Innovation Solution
A general fixture with a base and mesh surface featuring openings of similar shapes to constrain components in various orientations, allowing for versatile use with different components and simplifying motion planning, reducing the need for specific fixtures and enhancing robustness against measurement errors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional fixtures are designed for each specific component, then manufacturing precision and component constraint are improved, but device complexity and setup time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing a single fixture with multiple identical openings that can accommodate different component types. Instead of creating specialized fixtures for each component, one universal fixture design handles multiple components through its array of standardized openings, reducing device complexity while maintaining constraint precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The fixture is segmented into multiple independent openings on the mesh surface, each capable of constraining a different component. This segmentation allows the fixture to handle multiple component types simultaneously while maintaining a simple, repetitive structural pattern that reduces overall design complexity.
2Manufacturing precision
If traditional fixtures are designed for each specific component, then component orientation constraint is improved, but loss of time in design and manufacturing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The universal fixture design with standardized openings eliminates the need to design and manufacture separate fixtures for each component type. The same fixture design can be reused across multiple assembly processes, dramatically reducing the time required for fixture setup while maintaining precise orientation constraints through its mesh surface opening geometry.
3Measurement precision
If precise calibration is performed for each robot-fixture setup, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The fixture employs a homogeneous mesh surface with identical, uniformly distributed openings throughout. This homogeneity creates a regular, predictable pattern that simplifies robot calibration by providing consistent reference points across the entire fixture surface, reducing the time and complexity required for precise measurement setup.
4Manufacturing precision
If traditional fixtures are designed for particular components, then component-specific constraint is improved, but adaptability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The fixture achieves universality through its mesh surface containing multiple identical openings that can accommodate various component types. The standardized opening geometry provides sufficient constraint accuracy for different components while enabling the same fixture to be reused across multiple assembly processes and component varieties, maximizing adaptability.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for using a general fixture for robotic motion planning. One of the methods includes receiving a request to generate a motion plan for manipulating a component that is part of a robotic assembly process in an operating environment, the operating environment including a fixture having a base and a mesh surface, the mesh surface having openings that are configured to constrain the orientation of the component that is part of the robotic assembly process; in response, generating a motion plan that when executed causes a robot to place an instance of the component on the mesh surface.