Automated Fixture Design Using an Imprint-Based Design Approach & Optimisation in Simulation

Object aligning and holding fixtures for robotic assembly tasks are important in industry in order to successfully complete an assembly. However, the designing of a fixture is usually done manually which can be a long and tedious process including many iterations, even for experienced engineers. This paper presents a method to design fixtures automatically for use in robotic assemblies and pick-and-place tasks. To achieve this a new automated method to design the cut-out for a fixture is introduced. The method uses a parametrized version of the object's imprint to design the cut-out. The fixtures generated using this method are optimized in simulations to determine their final parameters for a specific application. The dynamic simulations are used to evaluate each iteration of the cut-out. Lastly, the method is applied to a use-case from the industry to design a fixture for use in a robotic assembly task.