Task planning for Robotworld: A case study

Abstract

The authors describe an implemented task planning system for the placement of electronic components on a printed circuit board (PCB). The task planner assumes an assembly workstation which is similar to V. Scheinman's Robotworld (1987), in which a number of small two-degrees-of-freedom robots slide on a horizontal platten above the PCB. After obtaining a PCB specification, the task planner generates a feeder layout, a feeder setup, a component assembly sequence, and a motion program for each of the robots. To test the task planner, the output is simulated graphically. For relatively small PCBs, all of this occurs within minutes, enabling quick turnaround from design to manufacture.