PARVUS – miniaturised robot for improved flexibility in micro production

Abstract

PurposeUntil now, the size range of most machines for precision assembly was much larger than the size of the pieces to be handled or the necessary workspace. Flexibly scalable miniaturised production machines can help to develop much more flexible micro production systems. The paper aims to describe the development of a micro‐parallel‐SCARA robot adapted in size to MEMS products.Design/methodology/approachThe robot consists of a miniaturised parallel structure, which provides a high level of accuracy in a workspace of 60 × 45 × 20 mm3. It has a base area of 130 × 170 mm2 and offers four degrees of freedom.FindingsBased on simulations, the degree of miniaturisation in terms of a smaller structure and a high level of accuracy is determined. The results show that a miniaturised hybrid robot with a plane parallel structure driven by miniaturised zero‐backlash gears and electric motors can reach a theoretical repeatability better than 1 μm.Research limitations/implicationsThe first prototype provides good prospects that the concept will be used in a visionary desktop‐factory. As regards the accuracy parameters of the robot, there will be further efforts to optimise the robot's structure and drive mechanism.Practical implicationsThe repeatability of this first prototype is better than 14 μm. A better stiffness of optimised micro‐gears and joints of the structure will guarantee a much better repeatability.Originality/valueThe paper illustrates that the Parvus is one of the smallest industrial robots for micro assembly equipped with a full range of functionalities like conventional industrial robots.

Assembly of a novel MEMS-based 3D vibrating micro-scale co-ordinate measuring machine probe using desktop factory automation

“…Using an automated system can rectify this. A suitable system has been developed at the Technische Universität Braunschweig [9]. The miniaturised robot Parvus, developed at the Institute of Machine Tools and Production Technology (IWF), is the main handling device within this system.…”

Semi-automated Assembly of a MEMS-Based Micro-scale CMM Probe and Future Optimization of the Process Chain with a View to Desktop Factory Automation

“…Most conventional assembly machines do not guarentee all of these requirements to the level demanded by this product along with a high degree of automation [7]. New approaches for scalable and highly flexible production technology are miniaturized handling devices in the range of several centimetres to a few decimetres [8].…”

APIS — A miniaturized robot for precision assembly with low-cost piezoelectric motors

“…Examples are the miniaturized Pocket Delta, 12 the subsequently mentioned Parvus 13 or the size adapted robots of the MICABO-class. 14,15 Motivated by this conclusion, this contribution addresses a new miniaturized robot system named APIS (Automatic PIezoelectric actuated Structure). APIS features a cost-saving and robust drive concept which is based on the use of piezoelectric motors that are capable of very small positioning movements in the range of a few micro degrees.…”