Friday, October 23, 2015

FURTHER WORK of DELTA ROBOT

FURTHER WORK

Here are summarization for some of the further steps which can be applied to the project later on for more improvement and development:
 Modify current design to increase working area of the robot to allow more space for additional applications.
 Usage of higher accuracy and power handling motors especially for the end-effector.
 Implement the robot for applications that required high accuracy and high speed such as 3D printer, laser engraving machines packaging in production line.
 Refine delta robot design for dynamic assembling, de-assembling and mobility. This permits further applications which can be considered commercially

CONCLUSION of DELTA ROBOT



CONCLUSION


In this project we studied problem of parallel robots in general particularly delta robots. Data collection, analysis and verification are carried out. Our effort leaded into enabling mechanical positioning of end effector by exploiting the concept of forward and inverse kinematics of delta robot.
The mathematical approval of kinematics equations which is used in Matlab are checked using open source online calculator [2] and have been validated. By then equations have been converted into C++ algorithms which are coded using Visual Studio.
To achieve parallelism into the proposed delta robot, two models have been designed. The first is a simple mechanical design and easy to implementation. However, this model is found to have small cube envelope area and poor coupling joints, thereby it has been set aside as backup model. The second model is designed with bear in mind first model disadvantages so that it is designed with a bigger cube envelope area and better joints which made it easier to control.
To verify the robustness and performance of the second model, a simulation has been carried out on the model using LabVIEW and SoildWorks. Simulation input data included several values of angles for several end effector positions (x, y, z). This allows verification of the inverse kinematics equations. Simulation Results approve the accuracy and correctness of the inverse kinematics such that allowed positions are only pointing inside the cube envelope area and other points outside that cube are mapped out.
We carried out Delta robot problem data collection, analysis, verification, manufacturing and testing. Our effort leaded into enabling mechanical positioning of end effector by exploiting the concept of inverse kinematics of delta robot.
Number of challenges appeared during manufacturing model ‘B’, for example the spherical joint shape and the length of robot’s arms. These problems are solved by adding
some modification on model ‘B’ and generate a new model which is called model ‘C’ whereas keeping advantages of model ’B’. After model ‘C’ had been fabricated, we started in testing phase.
Testing is carried out on model ‘C’ in order to validate the inverse kinematic equation of delta robot by generation MAH files for different geometric shapes and characters. These files are sent to the controller through LabVIEW. The drawing results which are drawn by the end-effector approve the accuracy and correctness of inverse kinematic equation.






Problems and Challenges of DELTA ROBOT

Problems and Challenges


Here, number of difficulties which are encountered during manufacturing and assembly process are described. We also draw several well-chosen tradeoff solutions. Problems and solutions are as follow:

After manufacturing a sample of few parts such as the elbow a torque and load problem revealed since the thickness of the old design of the elbow doesn’t overcome the links and end effector load, therefor the dimension of thickness increased from 6mm to 12mm, the old elbow is shown in Figure 4.31.

2- At the beginning of components collection stage of this project, getting of servo motors was a mission impossible especially from abroad markets. Thus we began replacing servomotor with stepper motors bearing in mind motion synchronization. We built a control circuit for this purpose. The circuit controls three stepper motors simultaneously using serial/USB communication and 4 PIC microcontrollers instead of Arduino UNO, Figure 4-32.
Later we managed to get three hoppy servo motors and consequently the project continued as planned.

When assembling links with elbow some friction and heavy clutching acquired, therefore a ball bearing is added in order to reduce friction, however another problem revealed which is the size of the ball bearing, the desired one is 12mm outer diameter to 6mm inner diameter, after extensive exploring we found this type of ball bearing in crank shaft of unknown motor in scrap field, Figure 4-33.

When spherical joint assembled with the closed end screw and using the normal hexagonal nuts a problem of limited movement appeared, however a new research for a better type of nuts which found in wall bolts nuts since they have thin thickness compared with the hexagonal nuts, Figure 4-34.
After assembling the delta robot a new challenge begin, since the position of end effector is higher than the down disk plat –work area- therefor the contact application is not applicable, and this challenge faced with adding height flexible plat that can be adjusted up or down with screws and nuts.









MANUFACTRING AND ASSEMBLYof DELTA ROBOT


MANUFACTRING AND ASSEMBLY

In this section, manufactured components and assembly process are explained.

Manufacturing
Some of the components like servo stand, elbows, plats, etc. require on hand manufacturing, however the robot stands and plates are made mostly from wood with care of accuracy in machining as possible
The following figures compare between the SoildWorks design and the manufactured component.

1- DownDisk Plat: This plat is the working area, where the end effector should reach the allowed points over it.

2- Upper/Base Plat: This plat is where the servo motors are stand.
- Circular Joint: Connect the end effector with the links, hence with the upper elbow.
Delta Stand: Hold the complete weight of the delta robot.
Servo Stand: a steel part separate between the upper/base plat and the servo as well it holds the servo from moving around






DELTA ROBOT :PROTOTYPING

PROTOTYPING

As simulation has verified and validated mathematical concept of the models, it is now time to build up a prototype that reflect the chosen design. This process reveals hidden problems and show in real the unseen failure points. It offers an environment for real-life application and calibration process. The implementation of the delta robot will be presented in this chapter.


COMPONENTS COLLECTIONS
In this section, all the mechanical and electrical components that do not need manufacturing process are described

Mechanical Components
Spherical Joint: 6mm Female Threaded Joint Bearing SI5T/K PHSA5 Right Hand Thread Rod End Bearing.
Lead Screw: 6mm open ended threaded screw

Wall Bolts, hexagonal nuts and rings: 6mm diameter

Ball bearing: Metal 12/6mm..



Electrical Components
Servo Motor: MG966R, datasheet enclosed in appendix A.


Arduino UNO: which is used due to its flexibility in controlling servomotors and it is considered enough for the delta robot motors.
Connector Circuit: a PCB14 board used as connector between the power, control and servo wires

DC Power Supply: Servo motors consume high current especially when they hold a torque, the minimum consumption of delta robot is about 0.7A for each motor, thereby the power supply should be able to provide at minimum 3A.






COST ANALYSIS of DELTA ROBOT

COST ANALYSIS 
Cost is one of the critical factors when considering the project optimality. Table 3-11 shows cost in NIS12 for parts and quantities of materials descripted in Table 3-9.
Although shown cost above is about (970 NIS) considering usage of low cost material such as wood and hoppy motors, the usage of stainless steel with CNC13 machining for sake of higher accuracy as an example may increase cost to over (1000 NIS). Also replacement of motors with higher accuracy ones will add another (240-500 NIS) to the total. A Delta Robot with reasonable resolution and accuracy will cost about (1500 NIS).


SIMULATION of DELTA ROBOT

To verify the equations in Chapter 2 -Inverse Kinematics Equations- and testing the generated angles of each motor within the limits of envelope area of model 'B' –as well verified in model ‘C’-, a control simulation is made based on several software's,
Matlab 2012a.
 Visual Studio 2010 -VSC++-.
 LabVIEW 2013 with SoftMotion module.
Each software tool is been used for a specific purpose, Matlab used to for quick calculation of the inverse kinematics equations while in the next step the m-file8 code converted onto C++ code to be able to run it on VSC++ which used to generate a MAH9 file which contain several angles for a movement steps that are needed for LabVIEW

:LabVIEW and SoftMotion Section

LabVIEW is a system-design platform and development environment for a visual programming language from National Instruments. Based on graphical programming.
LabVIEW software and the LabVIEW SoftMotion Module deliver graphical development for custom motion control applications. Which in this case a motion control of a predesigned Delta Robot SolidWorks model -model ‘B’-?
In any LabVIEW project there is two windows -parts-
The front panel window: which act as an interface for the End-User.
. The block diagram window: which contain the graphical code.
The Block Diagram
LabVIEW block diagram code is enclosed in Appendix C.
Matlab Section
As previously mentioned Matlab used for quick calculation of the inverse kinematics, a tiny GUI10 file written in Matlab finds the angles values of specific (x, y, z) point as in Figure 3-12.
M-file code is updated and converted into C++ enclosed in Appendix D

Visual Studio Section
In this section the code consist of two parts: sub-functions and main-function, the main function is the one which responsible for running the code and use the sub-functions in order to perform a specific task, in this case to generate the MAH file which contain the angles of each motor -inverse equations results-, while the sub-function is a code needed to be called do a specific task for the main function and most of the time ask for some input or return some values, e.g. the inverse sub-function ask for (x, y, z) and return (theta 1, theta 2, theta 3)

Figure 3-13 contain a generated angles (theta 1-3) for a fixed Z-axis and incrimination on X-axis and Y-axis with 0.5mm each iteration, therefore the motion will be a line from (x, y) = (0, 0) to (7, 7).

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