Layout designs for robotic PCB assembly

Describes three robot cell set-ups which feature dynamic choice of pick-and-place points for retrieving and inserting components. Three robot cell set-ups are: one-magazine-and-one-board (1M1B); one-magazine-and-two-boards (1M2B); and two-magazines-and-one-board (2M1B). Uses the same assembly sequence and component magazine assignment to evaluate the performances of these three set-ups. Experimental results indicated that the 2M1B set-up is more than two times superior to the 1M1B set-up in all cases and is also superior to the 1M2B set-up. The performance of the 1M1B set-up is the least efficient.