Flexible Combination of Optical Metrology Strategies for the Automated Assembly of Solid State Lasers Robert Schmitt, Alberto Pavim* Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering WZL at RWTH Aachen University, Chair of Metrology and Quality Management Steinbachstr. 19, 52074 Aachen Germany * Scholarship holder of the Brazilian CNPq

1 Introduction The technological development of opto-mechanical products is driven by the dynamical change of the customer preferences/needs and by the trend of miniaturisation, which defines big challenges to the fields of precision manufacturing and assembly. Especially the field of precision assembly of optical components is still characterised by a significant amount of manual procedures, resulting in higher costs associated to the assembly tasks. These can reach up to 80% of the total manufacturing costs, which states a strong demand for automation in this sector. Optical technology has become a key and cross-sectional technology in different technical fields: medical engineering, information technology, metrology, production engineering etc., growing in its economical relevance. Laser systems for labelling/marking materials are extensively used today and comprise a significant slice of the world market. But still, their assembly is determined by manual, and therefore expensive, processes. In this context, new solutions for the flexible and automated assembly of hybrid high-precision products are developed at the RWTH Aachen University. Currently, the assembly of a miniaturised diodepumped solid-state (DPSS) laser for labelling/marking applications is under research [1,2] inside the scope of a major research initiative – the “Aachen House of Integrative Production” [3]. The project goal is the reduction of manual manufacturing processes for a cost-effective assembly through self-optimising [4] and automated assembly strategies. These strategies are achieved by the combination of flexible manufacturing, sensing and information technologies.