Industrial Robot Development

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Master Diagram

Developers

• Paul Azevedo
• Yoonseo Kang
• Matthew Markudis

Progress Report and Task List

• Note that all development points are open to change, "completed" or not.

• Frame
  • Frame Concept (Completed)
  • Frame Specifications (Completed)

• Gearbox
  • Gearbox Concept (Completed)
  • Gearbox Specifications

• Stepper Mount
  • Stepper Mount Concept (Completed)
  • Stepper Mount Specifications (Completed)

• Shaft Encoder
  • Shaft Encoder Electrical Concept (Completed)
  • Shaft Encoder Electrical Specifications
  • Shaft Encoder Mechanical Concept (Completed)
  • Shaft Encoder Mechanical Specifications

• Hydraulics
  • Hydraulics Concept (Completed)
  • Hydraulics Specifications

• Electronics
  • Electronics Concept (Completed)
  • Electronics Specifications

• Programming
  • Microcontroller Programming

• Operation
  • Control instructions

Design Rationale

• Hydraulic Drive
  • Scales to very high payloads
  • Requires low gear reduction

• Needle Valves and Solenoid Valves
  • Simplifies design and fabrication

• Basic Frame
  • Simplifies design and fabrication

• Spur gearbox
  • Achieves high efficiency
  • Incurs no axial force onto shaft
  • Simplifies design and fabrication

• Incremental Encoder
  • Simplifies design and fabrication
  • Achieves high resolution
  • Achieves absolute position encoding through homing

Mass

Given density of A36 steel as 0.28 pounds per cubic inch (numbers are in pounds):

• Frame
  • Foundation Underplate: 81
  • Foundation Pillar: 14
  • Foundation Overplate: 36
  • Base Angle: 84
  • Main Arm: 16.8
  • Forearm Angle: 42
  • Forearm Plate A: 5
  • Wrist Angle: 42

• Hydraulic Motors
  • Hydraulic Motor 1: 20
  • Hydraulic Motor 2: 20
  • Hydraulic Motor 3: 20
  • Hydraulic Motor 4: 20
  • Hydraulic Motor 5: 20
  • Hydraulic Motor 6: 20

• Gearboxes
  • Gearbox 1:
  • Gearbox 2:
  • Gearbox 3:
  • Gearbox 4:
  • Gearbox 5:
  • Gearbox 6:

Repeatability

• Explaining Repeatability
  • When a robotic arm is commanded to move its end-effector to a particular point in space, the end-effector may arrive a location close to the desired point but not quite. Through testing, the maximum possible inaccuracy (the distance from the desired point) can be observed and recorded. The value of this measurement is called the repeatability of the robotic arm; hence, if a robotic arm is said to have a repeatability of 1mm, then the robot's greatest margin of error when moving its end-effector to a desired point is 1mm.
  • Visually, the repeatability of the robotic arm can be represented by a sphere centered at the desired point of movement with a radius equal to the repeatability; when moving to that desired point, the robotic arm will always finish at a point within the sphere.
  • Note that the repeatability of a robotic arm is determined by a repetition test where the arm moves to and from a desired point a given number of times while measuring the inaccuracy each time it stops; it follows that the observed value of repeatability is imperfect, though a high number of trials can reduce the uncertainty.

• Improving Repeatability
  • Repeatability can be improved by lowering the deflection that occurs when the frame of the robotic arm is placed under stress. Deflection minimization can be achieved by increasing the rigidity of all components placed under stress.
  • When a robotic arm is commanded to move and stop its end-effector at a certain location, shaft encoders determine where the robot stops moving. Shaft encoders measure the angular position of the shaft (ex. 45.6 degrees) but must do so in intervals (ex. between 1 and 4 degrees, between 4 and 7 degrees, ...). Therefore, the resolution of the shaft encoders significantly affects the repeatability of the robotic arm (the higher the resolution, the smaller the intervals); increasing the encoder resolution will improve repeatability.

Future Development

• As various components of the industrial robot shift from commercial purchase to open source fabrication, design flexibility will increase, improving performance while reducing input resource usage.