A Differential Evolution Optimization Approach to Solve the Pick-and-Placing Problem

The differential evolution algorithm (DE) for pick-and-placing problem of multi-head surface mounting machines is studied, and the research work has two contributions to the multi-head case, one is that the algorithm has a special mutation operation; the other is the crossover operation. Experimental results show that the proposed approach gives good robot assembly time and less movement of the feeder carrier and PCB table. Compared with genetic algorithm (GA), the new method requires fewer control variables, easier to use and less time to receive result, and the CPU time is saved by 88%.