A workpiece having at least one physical feature is placed into a workstation fixture having at least one adjustable locator. Measurement data reflecting the position of the at least one physical feature of the workpiece and measurement data reflecting the position of the at least one adjustable locator are obtained. A processor ingests and utilizes the collection of assembly data and the measurement data to define and store in memory at least one ordered pair correlating the physical feature and the adjustable locator. The processor defines a test vector that connects the position of the at least one physical feature and the position of the at least one adjustable locator. The processor to computationally discovers a best fit for adjusting the position of the adjustable locator to register with the physical feature by applying to the test vector a computational optimization process that seeks to minimize the length of the test vector to thereby generate a digital shim vector. The adjustable locator is then physically moved according to the digital shim vector, which is stored in association with the collection of assembly data.

A drilling method is provided allowing drilling in confined spaces with less effort. Two independent data sources are used for reducing tolerances between the component to be joined to the workpiece. The component is measured at the supplier using photogrammetry or laser scanning. First geometric data of the component obtained by this measurement are put in a data storage, such as a barcode tag or database. At the manufacturer, the first geometric data are used to position the component relative to the workpiece. Subsequently, the component is measured to obtain second geometric data indicative of the positions and diameters of the component joining holes. After determining a deviation between the first and second geometric data to be smaller than a predetermined threshold, the automatic drill is positioned at the correct drilling location and joining holes are drilled into the workpiece. Finally, the component and the workpiece are joined by fasteners.

A control device is provided with an instructed path generation unit that generates an instructed path for a movement path of a moving part on the basis of an instruction of a program, an actual forward path prediction unit that predicts an actual forward path from the instructed path using a machine model relating to a transfer characteristic of an industrial machine, an instructed reverse path generation unit that generates an instructed reverse path by reversing the movement direction of an actual forward path, an actual reverse path prediction unit that predicts an actual reverse path from the instructed reverse path using the machine model, and an instructed speed adjustment unit that adjusts an instructed speed based on a movement speed indicated by the instruction of the program so as to reduce an error of the actual reverse path relative to the instructed reverse path, and generates an instructed reverse speed.

A positional information display system includes a control device, a conversion information calculation device and an image information control device, in which the conversion information calculation device has a conversion information calculation portion which calculates conversion information representing a position and/or posture of a first coordinate system on a second coordinate system with a coordinate value of each axis of an industrial machine as a variable; and the image information control device has a coordinate information conversion portion which calculates a position and/or posture on the second coordinate system using conversion information and a coordinate value of each axis; a positional information calculation data setting portion which sets calculation data of positional information for visually displaying the position and/or posture in the first coordinate system by the third coordinate system of a display device; and a positional information display data calculation portion which calculates display data of the positional information.

A method and system are provided for controlling an industrial automation machine using non-contact (virtual) position encoding. The system and method can be used to determine the position of an object under assembly on a conveyor system without mechanical coupling to a line or drive mechanism of the line.

A substrate processing device for processing a substrate, comprising an image sensor configured to detect positions of two corners on at least one diagonal of a substrate when the substrate is transferred to a predetermined position; an illuminating device that can be disposed so as to illuminate the two corners of the substrate on an opposite side of the substrate at the predetermined position relative to the image sensor; and a control device configured to determine the position of the substrate on the basis of the positions of the two corners, which are detected by the image sensor, the control device being configured to be capable of changing at least either light quantity or wavelength of output light of the illuminating device.

The numerical controller controls a machine tool and performs rigid tapping on a cutting surface of a workpiece. The numerical controller determines, based on a first allowable synchronization error between a rotation of a spindle and movement of each axis of a workpiece coordinate system and an inclination angle of a cutting surface, a second allowable synchronization error between a spindle and a feed axis and monitors a synchronization error between the spindle and the feed axis based on a second allowable synchronization error that has been determined.

A workpiece having at least one physical feature is placed into a workstation fixture having at least one adjustable locator. Measurement data reflecting the position of the at least one physical feature of the workpiece and measurement data reflecting the position of the at least one adjustable locator are obtained. A processor ingests and utilizes the collection of assembly data and the measurement data to define and store in memory at least one ordered pair correlating the physical feature and the adjustable locator. The processor defines a test vector that connects the position of the at least one physical feature and the position of the at least one adjustable locator. The processor to computationally discovers a best fit for adjusting the position of the adjustable locator to register with the physical feature by applying to the test vector a computational optimization process that seeks to minimize the length of the test vector to thereby generate a digital shim vector. The adjustable locator is then physically moved according to the digital shim vector, which is stored in association with the collection of assembly data.

A control device includes a speed setting unit configured to set a relative movement speed of a wire electrode with respect to a workpiece depending on the average of gap voltage per unit time, i.e., average gap voltage, and set the relative movement speed so as to move the wire electrode backward when the average gap voltage is less than a threshold, and a map compensation unit configured to change the threshold from a first threshold that is set when the amount of change in the average gap voltage is lower than a predetermined variation, to a second threshold that is greater than the first threshold, when the average gap voltage has changed in a decreasing direction and the amount of change in the average gap voltage becomes equal to or greater than the predetermined variation.

An object burr processing machine for trimming object burr, comprises a machine base, a positioning seat erected on the machine base, a processing arm provided on the positioning seat, an object stage coupled with the machine base for placing object, and control device. The control device comprises an object sensing unit, a processing path setting unit, and a process control unit. The object sensing unit is able to sense the shape of the object. The processing path setting unit is able to define a processing path based on the shape of the object. The process control unit communicates and links to the processing arm, the object stage, the object sensing unit, and the processing path setting unit. During the burr trimming process, the process control unit can use the established processing path to control other devices to conduct the burr trimming process to the object, which greatly increases the convenience and efficiency of the processing.