Accuracy Enhanced Robotic Placement of

Computer Hard Disks

by
Bruce Fiala, Senior Software Engineer, Robotics and Vision Group
RTS Assembly Systems International

Introduction duty cycle and changing ambient

temperatures. For serially linked arms,
Anytime a robot must move to a location more degrees of freedom imply more
that has not been taught, accuracy must tolerance stackup and nonlinearity.
be considered. The reliance on vision
guided positioning and offline Different arms of the same robot model
programming techniques using CAD will have different characteristics.
generated point data methods have put Critical differences include casting
an increased emphasis on the dissimilarities such as length and twist,
requirement. Historically, robot bearing fits, drive train linearity, and
companies have never specified adaptability to variable loading.
accuracy, but a few are beginning to Characterizing these differences on a
take the requirement more seriously. joint-by-joint basis and recalculating the
Integrators who have accuracy kinematic parameters for the arm
requirements can apply innovative provides some basis for improvement,
techniques to supplement the limitations but because of nonlinearities and
of the robot. dynamics, further improvement can be
complex or impossible.

The Mechanics of Achieving

Accuracy The Challenge

An accurate robot attempts to minimize Engineers at RTS Wright, a custom

the difference between the robot’s
encoder positions, related to a
theoretical relationship model of the arm
and the position and orientation of its
tool flange in space. The spatial
position of an axis true position is never
adequately defined by just its encoder
position.
Inaccuracies can be caused by link
expansion due to heating, a result of
machine builder in Nashville Tennessee,
were challenged to provide an accurate
solution to a historically difficult problem
for a large disk drive manufacturer.
Engineers from both companies
collaborated on an automated disk
handling solution for the loading and
unloading of vertically hung pallets used
for the sputtering process. The
requirement had been around for years,
but past attempts were inaccurate,

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difficult to maintain, inflexible, and did
not meet the companies’ overall
expectations. In the disk drive business,
volume and yield requirements are high.
Speed, throughput, and flexibility are
paramount.
RTS provided an efficient and dynamic
system that would adapt to varying
pallet and process conditions. The
pivotal aspect of success was the ability
to enhance the AdeptOne robot’s true
point accuracy to less than 0.127 mm
(0.005”) in the vertically oriented pallet
area. The application detailed here was
duplicated 24 times and deployed to
facilities in the United States and the Far
East.
Sputtering Process Specifics
through the process, the pallets warp
significantly, sometimes greater than +/-
2 mm (0.08”). Each pallet has unique
and changing warpage characteristics.
Each disk placement hole location is
slightly larger than the disk. Left-to-right
loading tolerance (world Y) is +/- 0.25
mm (0.01”). The bottom outside
diameter of the disk is seated in a
shallow groove with less than 0.3 mm
(0.012”) total clearance in X (in and out
of pallet). If a disk falls from the pallet in
the sputtering system, the whole
process may have to be shutdown,
causing hours of downtime and process
recertification. It is also unacceptable to
touch the pallet with any disk edge other
than the landing area. A dent or scratch
on the edge is detrimental to disk drive
dynamics.

Computer hard disks are polished

aluminum substrates, which resemble a
flat donut. Outside diameters range
from 55 to 95 mm. Thickness is either
0.76 or 1.27 mm. The hole in the center
is slightly less than 25 mm in diameter.
In various locations, at the periphery of
the pallet, there are thru-hole fiducial
features.

Disks are brought in from a micro-

cleaning process into the Class 10 load
room. They are loaded, one at a time,
into vertically hung pallets and then
cycled through a 20-step sputtering
process. During sputtering, the
magnetic media adheres to the disk.
The pallet and disks go through rapid
heating and cooling cycles. Figure 1
Temperatures can reach 250 degrees Pictured is an interface screen that
C. Improperly seated disks can be allows operator interaction to which
jostled from the pallet due to turbid air holes will be loaded with 95 mm disks
within the environment.
Each of the forty in-process pallets is
Pallets are reused for 200 to 300 trips suspended by two pins on a flight bar.
through the process. After many trips Bars are recirculated through the

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process by a monorail-like conveyance designed to be disk-type specific (Figure
system. Each pallet measures 1 meter 1). There are five different pallet types,
square and is machined from 6.3 mm and depending on the disk size, a pallet
(0.25”) thick aluminum. The pallet is can hold between 55 and 105 disks.

System Features

?? True robot accuracy of less than 0.127 mm (0.005”) in the pallet area.
?? A self-calibrating system. Precise mechanical alignments of robot-to-robot or robot-
to-pallet are not necessary. Misalignments are compensated for in software. As a
result the two robots share the same coordinate system to within 0.05 mm (0.002”).
?? Multitier calibration and verification routines.
?? Mandrel tool offsets for each part type are self-discovered utilizing the modules-
driven laser system.
?? Verification routines allow for easy “sanity checking” of each aspect of calibration.
?? Dynamically changing disk locations are measured to 0.0127 mm (0.0005”)
repeatability.
?? Each pallet hole location is determined in 5 -degree space (X/Y/Z/Ry/Rz).
?? Dual, simultaneous hole discovery gauges for increased throughput.
?? All disk placement locations are discovered – there are no taught points.
?? Adaptive load/unload strategies.
?? Loading and measurement mechanisms share access to the pallet.
?? Pallet instability detection.
?? On-the-fly sensing of disk load integrity.
?? Location skipping if a disk presence is sensed prior to loading .
?? Ability to bypass disks at load and compress at unload.
?? Tracking of groups of 25 disks from pallet load to pallet unload.
?? AGV machine loading and unloading.
?? One version of software that is flexibly configured, based on file parameters, for a
job (load/unload), working level, disk type, etc.
?? Full error handling capability with retry options. If system is E-stopped during a
move, the robot is immediately halted. Upon operator acknowledgment, the robot
will slowly complete the move in progress and continue with full speed
loading/unloading.
?? The cell is completely controlled by the robot controller; there are no PLC’s.
?? Application software is completely customized V+.
?? System throughput of 3100 disks per hour for the smallest disk size, with an
efficiency rating of 99.9%. A load time of approximately 2.2 seconds per disk.

Cell Layout stroke, three different machine platform

An AdeptOne robot and two Adept
modules provide the flexibility for the
locating and loading/unloading of pallet
locations (Figure 2). Because of the
pallet’s height and the robot’s 290 mm Z
heights are needed, for a total of six
workcells, three load and three unload.
An overhead conveyance system
indexes pallets into the system. The
pallet is clamped at one point on the

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bottom. On the backside of the pallet,
the orthogonal pair of Adept modules, in
a Y/Z configuration, works in a plane
parallel to the pallet. A laser
triangulation gauge held by the modules
robot locates the pallet holes using edge
and distance sensing techniques. One
Figure 2
Plan View of an Unload Cell
The end-effector is simply two opposing
mandrels passively carrying 13 disks.
Disks are held vertically by tight
tolerance grooves in the mandrel
(Figure 3).
Carriers are shuttled in and out of the
system by a U-shaped conveyance
system. Once a carrier is indexed into
the load/unload area, a comb extends
up from below the conveyor to lift all 25
disks. Each disk is held by a portion of
its circumference by a groove in the
comb. Disk carriers are staged in two’s
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by one, each hole location is precisely
discovered and transformed to a load
location for the AdeptOne robot in front
of the pallet. Hole locations are not
taught; they are mathematically
determined points in space. This
requires true robot accuracy.
so that carrier changing is not needed
during a single pallet cycle.
Techniques
?? Four of the five degrees of the disk
position are used in load/unload
position compensation. The angle
associated with the fifth is compared
to a limit value to designate an
extreme pallet warpage condition.
?? By relating CAD data of the disk
locations relative to the pallet’s
 discovered fiducials, each disk’s Y/Z
location is known
?? In order to read the backside of the
pallet and relate the disk load
centerline to the loading robot, the
pallet is assumed to have a constant
thickness
?? Clean room practices require that
disks be loaded top-to-bottom and
unloaded bottom-to-top
?? All disks in a comb must be
exhausted before moving to the next
comb.

Figure 3
The robot end-effector is shown loading a disk after the location has been determined
by the modules based laser distance sensor

Calibration must know how to precisely relate its

The modules robot acts like a
coordinate measuring machine ; the
modules reference plane is used as the
machine’s master reference. All load
robot inaccuracy characteristics and
mechanical misalignments are mapped
out relative to the modules. The
modules robot measurement system
location and distance measuring device
to the load robots quill centerline at any
point in a 1 meter square work area
System calibration is only necessary
after the machine is initially set in place
or when a module axis, robot, or laser is
moved. Daily calibration or calibration
after power-up and homing is not

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necessary because the mechanical
systems and their relationships remain
constant.
Calibration consists of relating the two
robots to one another and then creating
a lookup table of load robot
inaccuracies. Together each robot
moves to a grid of X/Y/Z data points.
With the load robot stationary, the
modules robot measures the position of
the load robot and calculates the error
between the actual and desired
positions. A grid pitch of 20 mm
provides an adequate number of
horizontal points while keeping the
calibration time to a minimum.
At runtime, after the measurement robot
has relayed a hole location to the load
robot, inaccuracy factors in X/Y/Z are
interpolated from the lookup table and
added to the location.
The interpolation between 20 mm grid
points can only be valid if the robot can
accurately achieve positions between
the grid points. The Adept SCARA,
while not inherently accurate to the
desired level of 0.127 mm (0.005”), was
“linearly accurate” between grid points.
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This grid technique mitigates three
different types of error simultaneously:
the mechanical misalignment between
the modules robot and the load robot in
X/Y/Z, the load robot inaccuracies, and
the real-world conversion factor
differences between the laser and the
robots.
Figure 4 demonstrates the system
realignment and robot accuracy
enhancement. Eight vertical rows of
load robot grid point data were read by
the measurement robot. The graphs
show a quasi-repeating pattern in each
row. There are 47 points in each row.
The “Before Enhancement” data is the
inaccuracy data taken at each of the
grid points. The “After Enhancement”
data was taken when the load robot was
moved to a point midway between grid
points after applying the interpolated
compensation data from the lookup
table. This could be considered as the
worst case positioning error. There are
more “Before” data points because the
“After” data points are midpoints within
the larger mapped area.
 Point Inaccuracy Before Enhancement Worst Case Point Inaccuracy After Enhancement

0.008 0.008
0.006 0.006
I I 0.004
0.004
n n
0.002 0.002
c c
0 0
h h
-0.002 e -0.002
e
s -0.004 s -0.004
-0.006 -0.006
-0.008 -0.008
1 47 93 139 185 231 277 323 1 45 89 133 177 221 265 309

Vertical Row Number - World X Vertical Row Number - World X

0.02
0.02
0.015
0.015 I
I 0.01
0.01 n
n 0.005
0.005 c
c 0
0 h
h -0.005
-0.005 e
e
s -0.01
s -0.01
-0.015
-0.015
-0.02
-0.02
1 45 89 133 177 221 265 309
1 47 93 139 185 231 277 323
Vertical Row Number - World Y
Vertical Row Number- World Y

0.008 0.008
0.006 0.006
I I
0.004 0.004
n n
0.002 0.002
c c
0 0
h h
e -0.002 e -0.002
s -0.004 s -0.004
-0.006 -0.006
-0.008 -0.008
1 47 93 139 185 231 277 323 1 45 89 133 177 221 265 309
Vertical Row Number - World Z Vertical Row Number - World Z

0.08 0.1
D 0.06 0.08
D
e 0.04 0.06
e
g 0.04
0.02 g
r
0 r 0.02
e
e 0
e -0.02
e -0.02
s -0.04 s
-0.04
-0.06
-0.06
1 47 93 139 185 231 277 323
1 45 89 133 177 221 265 309
Vertical Row Number - Theta
Vertical Row Number - Theta

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Figure 4
The linear trending of points in a row is
due to the mechanical misalignment
between the two robots. The nonlinear
relationship of points in a row
demonstrates the load robot’s
inaccuracies.
Inaccuracies of theta about Z are not
mapped out because of the nonlinearity
between points. The “After”
enhancement theta data presented is
only readings at the enhanced X/Y/Z
locations. The deviation shown is within
two or three encoder counts, which is
within the positioning tolerance of the
axis.
Enhancement of robot world Y accuracy
is minimal because the theta deviation
directly affects Y point-to-point accuracy
as defined by the SCARA robot module.
Since the application is most tolerant
along the Y axis, this is not an issue.
The application is most critical of world
X (in and out of the pallet), which
demonstrates the least amount of error
after correction.

Application Challenges

?? Because of interference between the robot quill cover and the pallet conveyor, the
outer-most mandrel slot is 7 inches out from robot quill centerline (Figure 3).
Because of that, theta resolution and repeatability are crucial. One encoder tick
relates to a 0.127 mm (0.005”) translation in Y and a 0.05 mm (0.002”) translation in
X, the most critical axis.
?? SCARA robots are designed to work in a horizontal plane, this application works in a
vertical plane. The benefits of Z axis rigidity in a horizontal workspace is of no
benefit here.
?? Each robot has unique mechanical differences.
?? The coordinate system origin and, reference frame of the modules robot are adopted
by the load robot cell. The modules inherent accuracy must be an order of
magnitude greater than the minimum accuracy requirement of the cell.
?? While inaccuracies at any fixed location in the pallet plane were mapped out, the
accurate control over the path for the loading motion was still critical for good load
integrity.
?? Regardless of finish or color of the pallet, the laser must read linearly over the entire
surface.
?? The laser sensor edge triggering capabilities must have low hysteresis.
?? The robot controller must be able to latch encoder locations repeatably, at high
speed, as a result of that trigger.
?? The vertical reach of the SCARA arm was limiting. A six axis robot was tested in this
application and failed. The arm could not linearly move between grid points within
the required accuracy.

Conclusion

It is feasible to enhance the accuracy of some robots even though the precision
required is not available off-the-shelf. It is not possible to bridge the gap between

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inherent capability and enhanced capability without a powerful robot controller and an
in-depth understanding of robots, controls, coordinate transformations and sensing
techniques. Once a level of accuracy can be guaranteed, a new class of robust and
adaptable applications can be realized.

________________________________

Bruce Fiala is a Senior Software Engineer in the Robotics and Vision Group at RTS
Wright Industries LLC, 1520 Elm Hill Pike, Nashville, TN 37075; 615-361-4111 ext.
3241, bruce.fiala@rts-group.com.

For this application, RTS Wright was presented the Advanced Technology Achievement
Award by Adept Technologies.
________________________________

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