Automatic generation of robotic assembly sequences

This paper describes a programming system capable of automatically generating robotic assembly sequences. It is a generative robotic assembly process planner. A geometric model of the product to be assembled is defined interactively in the feature-based product database. Assembly relationships between components are modelled interactively in the graphical relation diagrams. An initial and a final relation diagram are used to describe the initial and final states of the assembly, respectively. The validity of the physical connections defined in the final relation diagram is checked by analysing the information contained in the feature-based product database A single robotic assembly sequence is generated automatically, using only the relational data defined in the final relation diagram. Subassemblies are generated automatically. The component (or subassembly) to be moved at each step of the sequence is also explicity provided in the assembly-sequence formulation.