Shaft insertion for moving object by using robot manipulator with one dimensional PSDs sensor

The shaft insertion task of the industrial robot is very important and frequently performed in assembly operations. We have studied the shaft inserting robot for the moving object by using a PSD (position sensitive detector). We propose a new position error detecting sensor in which four 1 dimensional PSDs are arranged in cross around the shaft. This sensor can detect the position error between the center of shaft and the hole and the inclined angle in real time. The sensor can detect the position error during the shaft inserting operation. At first, we show the detecting principle of the position and the incline angle of this sensor. Next, we show the configuration of the robot system with this sensor. Using this sensor system, the robot can insert a shaft into no inclination hole of the moving object at a velocity of 80 mm/s with a clearance of 50 μm without chamfering. From the experimental result for the inclined angle detection, the characteristic of the inclined angle detection differed from the one of the theoretical output. We verify the difference between the experimental result and the theoretical result.