Microassembly system with controlled environment

Environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity can influence the adhesion forces, material and microtribological properties of microparts. To have a good understanding of microassembly, it is essential to study the influences of environmental conditions on the microassembly process and system. This paper presents our research in environmentally controlled microassembly. We have developed a microassembly system with controlled environment, which consists of an environmental control system and a microassembly platform. The environmental control system controls the environmental conditions including temperature and humidity in a closed chamber, providing a clean and vibration isolated environment for microassembly. The temperature can be controlled in the range of -10-40°C and relative humidity in the range of 5-80% RH. The microassembly platform, which is installed in the environmental control system, contains microrobotic instruments such as microgrippers, micromanipulator, positioning stages, microdispenser, ultraviolet light source, microscopes, etc. Experiments on the influences of environmental conditions on microassembly instruments and pick-and-place operations are systematically performed. The results are analyzed and presented.