Electric connector assembly based on vision and impedance control using cable connector-feeding system

In this study, a method for the electric connector-mating process in a wiring harness assembly system is proposed. In connector-assembly tasks, grasping the electric connector is a crucial step. Therefore, a cable connector-feeding system is developed to align cable connectors so that they can be grasped straight and held firmly by the robot. After the grasping problems are solved, a tilt strategy with impedance control is used to overcome the position errors caused by the vision system. The location of the connector header (Female part of connector) is detected using visual servoing with markers. Then, impedance control is adopted to achieve compliant contact motion and minimize position/orientation errors. The performance of the proposed electric connector-assembly strategy is evaluated by a series of experiments using a six-degree of freedom industrial robot equipped with a force/torque sensor and an eye-in-hand camera.