Locating and identifying components in an automatic manufacturing process

This paper describes a system that facilitates the identification and manipulation of components in an automatic manufacturing process (AMP). As a prerequisite to component identification and manipulation their location within the robot's workspace must be determined. In the system to be described, the location of objects is achieved by building a model of the workspace using information provided by sensors located within the robot's workspace. This model is then used to determine the location of components within the workspace.