A Virtual Factory Environment to support Process Design in Micro Assembly Domains

In this paper, the creation of a virtual factory environment to support the assembly of micro devices is discussed. While most of the research has focused on micro assembly processes using dedicated work cells, there is a need to develop advanced Virtual Reality based simulation environments which can support the study of factory and work cell level assembly alternatives. Such virtual environments will enable comparison of 'what if' assembly alternatives that can enable reduction of overall assembly time as well as support assembly level re-design of individual work cells.