Automated Assembly System for Miniature Bolted Joints During the Gimbal Assembly

Due to the narrow working space and small dimensions of the bolted shafts, the assembly of miniature bolted joint in the gimbal is highly dependent on human experience and skills, and the assembly consistency cannot be guaranteed. In this paper, a precision assembly system for miniature bolted joint of gimbal is developed, which including computer control and human-computer interaction unit, 3-DOF bolted shaft picking unit, 3-DOF frame picking unit, 2-DOF bolted joint tightening unit and 2-DOF fixture and feeding unit, etc. After the prototype of the automated assembly system was built, several sets of miniature gimbals were selected for assembly experiments. The results show that it takes about 25 minutes to assemble one gimbal, and the assembly efficiency is significantly improved compared with manual assembly. The axial displacement of the inner frame is less than 3.0 μm, and the axial displacement of the outer frame is less than 3.0 μm. The designed assembly system can stably and reliably complete the automated assembly task.