Patent ID: 8786713

Claim:
A method for aligning a lens to a digital camera sensor, the lens comprising a housing, a floating optical element disposed within the housing, a plurality of electrical contact points and a motor disposed within the housing, electrically coupled to at least one of the plurality of electrical contact points and configured to move the floating optical element with respect to the housing in response to a signal on the at least one of the plurality of electrical contact points, the method comprising automatically: gripping the housing with a robotic jaw; robotically touching at least one of the plurality of electrical contact points with a test probe, thereby making a temporary electrical connection between the test probe and the at least one of the plurality of electrical contact points; generating a control signal configured to drive the motor, such that the motor moves the floating optical element to a predetermined position; supplying the control signal to the test probe; using the robotic jaw, scanning the housing along a trajectory, relative to a camera sensor; receiving image signals from the camera sensor; generating a plurality of time spaced-apart alignment data items from the image signals, each alignment data item of the plurality of time spaced-apart alignment data items being indicative of a degree of alignment between the lens and the camera sensor; estimating an alignment position, based on the plurality of time spaced-apart alignment data items; causing the robotic jaw to move the housing to the alignment position; and fixing the housing in place, relative to the camera sensor.