Task independent relationship of system to actuator performance via scaling

Abstract

A critical component of throughput for planar assembly and test systems is time spent moving from site to site. In general, it is difficult to assess the impact of actuator enhancements on overall system performance. It may vary from product to product. Even for a specific product, it may depend on which of n factorial possibilities is chosen in moving amongst n locations. Ideally, one wants to minimize the total time required by all the movements. Since the time required to move from site to site has now changed, the optimal sequence may also change. It will be shown that with the proper scaling the optimal sequence will remain unaffected. Furthermore, the improvement in the system's performance is quantifiable, independent of the distribution of the distances which must be traversed. The analysis is applicable to some instances where nonidentical concurrent motions are used to realize the travel time operation.