High Precision Pick and Place Operation

1 . A method for an assembly operation for inserting a part into a chassis, the method comprising:

calculating a first part pose estimation for the part in a pick area;

picking up the part from the pick area using a robot arm, and moving the part above the chassis to an approach point;

calculating a second part pose estimation for the part being held by the robot arm above the chassis;

correcting the second part pose estimation using a chassis pose estimation, thereby performing multi-stage verification;

inserting the part into the chassis, wherein the multi-stage verification ensures that a high value part is not damaged in the assembly.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

applying a final position correction by verifying a position of a fixed region of interest prior to the inserting.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the final position correction comprises:

locating a region of interest on a board;

using template matching to compute distance between the regions of interest; and

verifying that the distance is below a threshold.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating the first part pose estimation comprises:

generating a point cloud of the part, using a first sensor;

matching the point cloud to a template of the part; and

computing subpart locations based on the matching.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

defining a working plane, the working plane defining a bottom of the subpart locations; and

removing points in the point cloud below the working plane, prior to the computing.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

clustering the point cloud into distinct clusters; and

matching the subpart locations based on the template of the part and the clusters.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing a calibration verification to verify that sensors remain calibrated, by:

comparing a scan of a static portion of the robot arm to a robot template;

computing a transformation between the robot template and the scan; and

determining that the transformation is identity, to verify the calibration.

8 . A high precision pick and place system for inserting a part into a chassis comprising:

run-time pick location computer to calculate a first part pose estimation for the part in a pick area;

a robot arm configured to pick up the part from the pick area and move the part above the chassis to an approach point;

a run-time place location computer further configured to calculate a second part pose estimation for the part being held by the robot arm above the chassis;

a final position corrector to correct the second part pose estimation using a chassis pose estimation, thereby performing multi-stage verification;

the robot arm further configured to insert the part into the chassis, wherein the multi-stage verification ensures that a high value part is not damaged during the insertion.

9 . The system of claim 8 , further comprising:

the final position corrector to apply position correction just before insertion by verifying a position of a fixed region of interest prior to the inserting.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the position correction just before insertion comprises:

the final position corrector to locate a region of interest on a board, use template matching to compute distance between the regions of interest, and verify that the distance is below a threshold.

11 . The system of claim 8 , further comprising:

the run-time pick location computer further configured to:

generate a point cloud of the part, using a first sensor;

match the point cloud to a template of the part; and

compute subpart locations based on the matching.

12 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising:

the run-time pick location computer to define a working plane, the working plane defining a bottom of the subpart locations; and

the run-time pick location computer to remove points in the point cloud below the working plane, prior to the computing.

13 . The system of claim 12 , further comprising:

the run-time pick location computer further to cluster the point cloud into distinct clusters and match the subpart locations based on the template of the part and the clusters.

14 . The system of claim 8 , further comprising:

a calibration validator to perform a calibration verification to verify that sensors remain calibrated, by comparing a scan of a static portion of the robot arm to a robot template, computing a transformation between the robot template and the scan, and determining that the transformation is identity, to verify the calibration.

15 . A method for an assembly operation for inserting a part into a chassis, the method comprising:

picking up the part from a pick area using a robot arm;

moving the part above the chassis to an approach point;

calculating a part pose estimation for the part being held by the robot arm at the approach point, based on data from one or more sensors;

verifying that the part pose estimation matches an intended part pose;

matching the part pose estimation to a chassis pose estimation;

applying a final position correction just before inserting the part by verifying a position of a fixed region of interest prior to the inserting; and

inserting the part into the chassis, wherein the method ensures that a high value part is not damaged in the assembly.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the final position correction comprises:

locating a region of interest on a board;

using template matching to compute distance between the regions of interest; and

verifying that the distance is below a threshold.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the calculating a part pose estimation comprises:

generating a point cloud of the part, using a first sensor;

matching the point cloud to a template of the part; and

computing subpart locations based on the matching.

18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

defining a working plane, the working plane defining a bottom of the subpart locations; and

removing points in the point cloud below the working plane, prior to the matching.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

decimating the point cloud prior to the matching, to reduce a resolution.

20 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising performing a calibration verification to verify that sensors remain calibrated, by:

comparing a scan of a static portion of the robot arm to a robot template;

computing a transformation between the robot template and the scan; and

determining that the transformation is identity to verify the calibration.