A Roadmap for Autonomous Robotic Assembly

This paper describes the components (“software agents”) that are needed in an autonomous robotic assembly system. Such a system is called “autonomous” if it is able to cope with all uncertainties in the real-world execution (control and sensing) of an assembly task that was planned off-line, and with the (re)planning itself. For each component, the paper answers the following three questions: What is needed in this component? What has already been achieved in (industrial and research) practice? And what are realistic expectations for the short to medium term future? The goal is to facilitate discussions about the future of robotic assembly, by providing a structured overview.