Conceptual Design and Control Strategy of a Robotic Cell for Precision Assembly in Radar Antenna Systems

Abstract Dip-Brazing is a metal-joining process in which two or more metal items are joined together using a low-temperature melting element as filler. In telecommunication field, this process is used to fabricate radar antenna systems. The process begins with the assembly of the parts constituting the antenna and the thin filler sheet used to join the parts. The mechanical deformations of the micro-pins of the parts allow to obtain a more compact mechanical assembly, before than the antenna system is subjected to an immersion cycle used for adjoining the parts. In this work, we present the design of the robotic cell to automate the assembly procedure in the aluminum dip-brazing of antenna in MBDA missile systems. In particular, we propose a robotic cell using two stations: i) assembly, using a SCARA manipulator; ii) riveting, using a three-axis cartesian robot designed for positioning a radial riveting unit. Motion control of the robots and scheduling of the operations is presented. Experiments simulated in a virtual environment show an almost perfect tracking of the designed trajectories. The standardization of the procedure as well as the reduction of its execution time is thus achieved for the industrial scenario.