System and method for precisely drilling matched hole patterns using surface mapped features

A system for performing matched operations on a first workpiece and a second workpiece, the system comprising:

• a movable spindle having a chuck for holding a tool;
• a microscopic camera mounted on the movable spindle;
• a micro-adjustment mechanism mounted on the movable spindle and configured to controllably move the tool installed in the chuck on the movable spindle;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• provide signals to move the movable spindle to a series of predetermined positions for performing operations on the second workpiece;
• receive, from the microscopic camera at each of the predetermined positions, an image of a template mounted to the first workpiece;
• identify microscopic features of the template associated with each of the predetermined positions;
• perform a comparison of the microscopic features with second microscopic features identified in a second image of the template mounted to the second workpiece;
• and
• responsive to the comparison indicating a distance between the microscopic features and the second microscopic features that does not satisfy a threshold distance, provide second signals to move the movable spindle via the micro-adjustment mechanism such that the threshold distance is satisfied.

A method for performing matched operations on mating a first workpiece and a second workpiece, the method comprising:

• moving a first spindle having a first chuck for holding a first tool to a series of predetermined positions for performing operations on the first workpiece;
• capturing an image of a template mounted to the first workpiece using a microscopic camera mounted on the first spindle at each of the predetermined positions;
• identifying and storing, in a memory, microscopic features of the template associated with each of the predetermined positions;
• performing a comparison of the microscopic features with second microscopic features identified in a second image of the template mounted to the second workpiece;
• and
• responsive to the comparison indicating a distance between the microscopic features and the second microscopic features that does not satisfy a threshold distance, providing second signals to move the first spindle such that the threshold distance is satisfied.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

• moving a spindle having a chuck for holding a tool to a series of predetermined positions for performing an operation on a first workpiece;
• capturing, at each of the predetermined positions, an image of a template mounted to the first workpiece using a microscopic camera mounted on the spindle;
• identifying microscopic features of the template associated with each of the predetermined positions;
• performing a comparison of the microscopic features with second microscopic features identified in a second image of the template mounted to a second workpiece;
• and
• responsive to the comparison indicating a distance between the microscopic features and the second microscopic features that does not satisfy a threshold distance, providing second signals to move the spindle such that the threshold distance is satisfied.