Highly sophisticated machining techniques make it possible to manufacture ultra precise micro components as small as 100 mu. These micro components are normally mounted onto larger macroscopic components before being incorporated into, e.g., medical, telecommunication or sensor technology products. In view of the highly inflexible systems currently available, the work carried out by the Fraunhofer IPT with funding from the SFB 440 focuses on the development of a hybrid, universally applicable fine positioning system. The system consists of an assembly head which, with the aid of an integrated six-axis fine positioning unit and an integrated sensor unit for referencing the assembly position, gives a conventional positioning system such as an articulated robot arm the ability to perform highly precise micro assembly processes. This provides the context for the development work carried out by the Fraunhofer IPT into assembly head design concepts. The first step involved investigating the positioning behavior of a conventional articulated robot arm, and then analyzing the demands placed on the assembly head. This is followed by the development and optimization of the miniaturized guidance, actuator and sensor components that are needed for the construction of a robust, highly precise six-axis fine adjustment system. The result of this work includes a set of linear guides, the size of a matchbox, with air bearings. The prototype guides set up at the Fraunhofer IPT have a non-contact interface, which makes it possible to convey compressed air without friction or force

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Optical micro parts, such as glass fibres, require handling and alignment accuracies down to the sub micrometer range. Addressing this task, one aim of the Fraunhofer IPT is the development of new concepts of active gripper systems. In this context a highly integrated, adaptive, rugged and economical gripper system particularly for accurate handling and alignment of flexible micro parts down to the sub-micron level has been developed. This gripper system can be used on conventional robot systems for carrying out microassembly operations. The robot system does the pre-positioning, the tolerances necessary for the micro-assembly are subsequently realized directly at the tip of the gripper with the gripper integrated multi-axes system. Positioning systems that achieve the required positioning increments in the sub micron range are already existent. However, the problem of such systems is that they are normally highly sensitive against mechanical impact and extremely cost intensive. In this paper the development of a highly robust gripper-integrable axes system and its integration in a novel gripper design with a multi-axis adjustment system is presented.

The development of automated production systems is subdivided in two mayor tasks. One is the development of the processes needed to meet the requirements for the product, the other is the setup of a control system enabling the hardware to perform these processes. Typically the larger amount of the available resources is needed for the setup of hardware and implementation of the required control mechanism, leaving only limited resources for the process development. Especially for small scale and prototype production with a high rate of changes, this is why fully automated solutions don't pay off and manual or partial manually assembly is preferred [1]. This paper introduces an approach how to separate the implementation effort of the hardware specific tasks from the process definition, allowing a fast and easy setup for new automation systems, due to simultaneous development and a high rate of reuse of previous solutions.

Micro assembly is typically characterized by positioning tolerances below a few micrometers. In the case of the assembly of hybrid micro systems, such as optical systems, micro ball lenses or micro probes for measurement tasks, even positioning accuracies in the sub-micrometer range have to be achieved. The efficiency of the use of automated handling devices is strongly influenced by the flexibility of the equipment and the required application specific customizations. In this context a high precision assembly head is presented. It upgrades conventional robots with the ability to do fine alignment steps in sub-micrometer resolution and 6 DOF. Therefore it is equipped with a universal endeffector structure.