Part assembly using static and dynamic force fields

Part assembly is an important goal of part manipulation. Among other techniques, programmable force fields have been introduced for part manipulation. Many different force fields have been proposed to manipulate a part, such as the squeeze and the elliptical fields. For part assembly, more than one part needs to be manipulated. This can create problems since there can be interactions between the parts such as impact and friction. With technology developing, certain fields can be implemented in the micro-scale with MEMS actuator arrays and in the macro-scale with arrays of directed air jets or small motors. Modern technology is beginning to provide the means to control the magnitude and frequency of each actuator of the implemented force field. Thus dynamic and localized force fields can be used for part manipulation. This paper presents a novel strategy to assemble two parts with a sequence of static and dynamic programmable force fields. The strategy involves some initial sensing. Uncertainties occurring in the motion of the parts are taken into account to make the proposed strategy more robust.