Automated Assembly of Components and Circuits for Non-planar Assembly

For aerospace, automotive, and defense products, chip-level integration is a critical aspect of the assembly process. Precision assembly of small parts, such as wafers and chips, typically relies on robotic automation, especially for XY plane stacking. However, stacking components conformally on curved surfaces or in the YZ plane presents significant challenges. While 6-axis robots offer flexibility in motion, their precision falls short for chip-level integration. Additionally, maintaining the necessary precision for RF applications—specifically controlling the gap between uniquely shaped layers—adds complexity. To address this, a motion platform must provide nanometer resolution, repeatability within a few hundred nanometers, and accuracy near 1 micron in all dimensions. It is also essential to align and place chips or wafers with near-micron accuracy. Our automated system can assemble small packages (0210), BGA, or QFN form factors with pad sizes as small as 50 microns. This system supports conformal assembly, including placement at 90 degrees from the XY normal. Furthermore, we've implemented an IoT system to monitor machine health and the assembly process. With large-scale data collection, machine learning algorithms are employed to predict the system's health and optimize the assembly process. Next-generation assembly of electronic systems will demand smaller, conformal form factors. The key challenge will be achieving this with high speed and high yield production. This marks the first step toward integrating machine learning into multi-dimensional manufacturing processes. In this presentation, we will demonstrate our assembly process for stacking complex wafers and chips, tailored for next-generation circuits.