THIS PAPER DESCRIBES A FLEXIBLE ASSEMBLY CELL WHICH HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO SUPPORT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN SEVERAL AREAS BEARING ON AUTOMATED ASSEMBLY. THIS CELL INCORPORATES THREE ROBOTS WITH INTERSECTING WORK ENVELOPES. TWO OF THEM PERFORM THE PRIMARY ASSEMBLY ACTIVITIES, WHILE THE THIRD CONDUCTS MATERIAL HANDLING OF ASSEMBLY PARTS AND FINISHED PRODUCTS. THE CELL IS DESIGNED FOR COORDINATED ASSEMBLLY INVOLVING SIMULTANEOUS ROBOT MOTION, REQUIRING CONTROL ALGORITIHMS FOR MOVING OBSTACLE DETECTION AND COLLISION AVOIDANCE. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE PROGRAM IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRACTICAL TOOLS FOR IMPROVED ROBOTIC ASSEMBLY. RELATED GOALS INCLUDE FLEXIBILITY IN ACHIEVING SMALL AND MIXED BATCH ASSEMBLY AND COMPUTER INTEGRATION. CONCURRENT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN ASSOCIATED AREAS ALSO IS DISCUSSED.