Multilevel assembly planning system

We present a hierarchical assembly planning system that merges the capabilities of our high-level assembly planner KA3 and our fine-motion planner. Integration of the two planners yields a multilevel assembly planner capable of translating task-level assembly commands, such as Assemble Feature 1 of PartA to Feature 2 of PartB, into sequences of assembly motion tasks, together with the fine-motion commands needed to perform them in the presence of uncertainty. Demonstrated by way of example, the multilevel system enumerates planning alternatives at four levels of detail: from the high-level identification of feasible goal configurations and alternative orderings of assembly motions, to the low-level planning of contact space paths and compliant motions.