Method of setting up a joining device, method of joining a cover lens to a housing of a motor vehicle lighting device and system

A method of setting up a joining device for joining a cover lens to a housing of a motor vehicle lighting device, the joining device comprising a mounting fixture and a robot with a suction head, the method comprising:

• inserting the housing into the mounting fixture and the cover lens into the suction head;
• transferring the suction head to an initial joining pose;
• joining the cover lens to the housing with the suction head in the initial joining pose;
• measuring a pose of the cover lens on the housing relative to a reference-point system, which comprises reference points on a surface of the housing and/or the cover lens;
• determining a set of translations and/or rotations, which transfer the pose of the cover lens to an optimal pose with minimal deviations from a target pose;
• and
• correcting the initial joining pose of the suction head to a corrected joining pose with the set of translations and/or rotations,
• wherein the housing includes hollow screws, which each extend through protruding lugs and which are oriented mutually perpendicular or parallel, wherein a bottom surface of each of the hollow screws defines a respective one of the reference points.