Automated Robotic Assembly of Laser Systems

The assembly and alignment of laser systems in both industrial and research settings is currently a time-consuming process requiring significant investment in design engineering as well as trained staff for making the required fine tune alignment to various arrays of optical and mechanical components. This results in a process which is expensive to implement with little flexibility to deal with supply or demand variations. Robotic manufacturing systems offer the potential to address this issue through their capacity for automation.
Active alignment via continuous optical diagnostics enables robotic systems driven by machine learning techniques will allow them to interpret the complex alignment spaces that are inherent to typical industrial laser systems as numerous sub-assemblies are implemented.
To realise this potential, the system will need to replicate the fidelity of a human user both in terms of mechanical dexterity and cognitive decision making. Consequently, the machine learning methods will be informed by human-behaviour analysis trials performed with experts to extract their knowledge of various alignment procedures.