TASK: Develop an automated system to measure the thickness of ground aluminum disks used in hard drives at a minimum rate of 60 disks per minute. Measurements were to be within 100µM, ± 10µM, utilizing the clients proprietary capacitive probe technology. After all the disks in a carrier have been measured, then sort them into programmed thickness categories by placing like sizes in empty carriers without a any damage to the soft surface of the disks. Finally, remove the full carriers and apply a bar coded label giving the size category, lot number and date.

RESULT: We developed a system using a Seiko SCARA robot adapted with a custom vacuum pickup head to sort the disks and move the carriers within the system. Carriers were brought into and from the system using a custom conveyor system. We improved the clients probe electronics and developed a measurement module to achieve an order of magnitude higher resolution. We increased throughput to 150 disks a minute by developing a two disk pickup head and optimizing our sorting software. Because the instrument had to perform 24-7, we designed a modular system so that any major component could be changed out in under 30 minutes. The prototype unit met the clients specification of running for two weeks with no more than 2 hours down time. Ten of these systems have been in continous use for eight years.

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