Development of a flexible gripper system for small optical assemblies

This paper presents the development of a flexible gripper system for the assembly of camera phone lens modules. The goal of the research work is to develop a modular gripper system that can pick and place different sizes and types of lenses and spacer rings. En important feature is that the system can measure positional errors caused by feeding or pick up of the components. The gripper system consists of three parts: gripper body, rotating see-through secondary body, and the end-effector tool. Modularity and suitability for the shapes of different parts are realized using a changeable suction cup type of tool. The integrated vision system of the gripper is used to locate the object once it has been grasped in the gripper. After the centre point and orientation of the object are located, the offset for compensating the object positioning error in the gripper can be calculated and used to guide the robot to assemble the object with high precision. This kind of arrangement enables precision assemblies.