A visual sensing system for measuring parts deformation and misalignments in flexible parts assembly

Abstract

Flexible parts compared with rigid parts can be deformed by contact force during assembly. For successful assembly, information about their deformation as well as possible misalignments between mating parts is essential. However, because of the nonlinear and complex relationship between parts deformation and reaction forces, it is difficult to acquire all the required information from the reaction forces alone. In this paper, we propose a visual sensing system for measuring parts deformation in any direction and misalignments in flexible parts assembly. This proposed system is composed of a camera and a series of mirrors, and it can overcome those self-occlusions in which a hole is occluded by mating parts. We present an algorithm that can measure parts deformation and misalignments. Simulation results show that the system is effective in measuring parts deformation and misalignments, thereby dramatically increasing the rate of success in assembly operations. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.