Modular workpiece carrier system for micro production

Compared to other work in the field of workpiece carriers in this paper a concept for a flexible and modular system, adapted to the requirements in micro assembly and related micro production processes requiring high precision is presented. Beyond conventional passive workpiece carriers the modular electronic platform enables the integration of process and monitoring functionality. Its own energy supply allows, combined with the wireless data transfer capability, the continuous track and trace in production of quality and safety related devices. Due to the energy supply also the acquisition of measurement data or the control of actors is possible, even outside machines during transport or storage. The modular design enables the precise adaption to the product and processes without dissipation of resources by overdesigned or unutilized features of the workpiece carrier. The standardization of the modules and their interfaces simplifies the adaption and makes reusability of modules possible. The next tasks will be the implementation of the single elements of the modular electronic platform and the modular mechanical design as well as the merging to workpiece carrier systems. These systems will be technically and economically validated in several industrial use cases in micro assembly, ultra-precision machining and precision measurement.