Precision Assembly of Optical Backplanes

Full optical backplanes can be seen as a promising technology for high band-width ICT (Information and Communication Technology) apparatuses and high performance computing systems. According to a recent frame-based solution, the backplane mounts a number of independent optical interconnect circuits mainly consisting of a set of optical fiber ribbons of different length arranged to fulfill a specific planar ribbon routing. A non-negligible problem is related to the development of suitable techniques for the efficient and cost-effective assembly of such sub-circuits. New systems are required that combine ultimate hardware and software capabilities and derive from a synergic implementation of digital and advanced manufacturing technologies. The successful assembly of the optical interconnection circuits lies in the development of cyber-physical production systems within the framework of Industry 4.0. In this context, this work will present and discuss how different innovative technologies and consolidated technologies applied in a novel context were exploited to demonstrate the feasibility of the automated backplane assembly. The achieved results are discussed in terms of design of the work-cell layout and related equipment, simulation tests, tool path planning, and final task execution.