Design of a robotic cell for the assembly of full-optical backplanes

Full optical backplanes can be seen as a promising technology for high bandwidth ICT apparatus and high performance computing systems. A non-negligible problem is related to the development of suitable techniques for their efficient and cost-effective assembly. The paper presents preliminary work carried on in order to design a robotised workcell for the automatic handling and assembly of the sub-circuits for a novel optical backplane, as detailed in [1]. The results obtained by simulation tests are discussed in terms of design of the workcell layout and related equipment, and also of tool path planning.