ECT 480: Applications of Robotics & Automated Systems

ECT 480: Applications of Robotics & Automated Systems

Project design #1: Robotic Workcell Design
Portfolios are due: TUESDAY September 25th @ 4PM Presentations will be done: THURSDAY September 27th starting at 2PM

Objective: In your Mitsubishi student manual there are a number of Robotic programming structures including: Pick & Place, Motion Control, Loops, Branching, Jumps, Subroutines, Input & Output Interfacing, and Arrays (palletizing/depalletizing). I want your to demonstrate mastery of these structures by creating an industrial workcell using a Mitsubishi RV-2AJ robot that will include these programming structures incorporated into a working program to perform a set of tasks commonly performed by robots in an industrial or manufacturing setting.
Imagine that you are an automation engineer for a company, and a robot workcell is needed to perform a series of tasks, and your job is to develop and test run a prototype layout & design that can be demonstrated for ‘management’ for approval and then carried into actual development as a full working model.

Use your imagination and be innovative. Robots are supposed to be multi-taskers, according to one author robot functions in industry fall into 6 general categories: Material handling, Machine tending, Welding, Assembly, Process, and coating applications (paint spraying). I want you to combine these to allow your robot to demonstrate multiple types of operations. I am willing to be flexible within reason, but I want this to be applicable to an actual workplace usage of robotics.

You can use the foamboards as your base, or use heavy cardboard if you need better stability. You create your own tooling and fixtures from whatever materials you have available or can find. Styrofoam, cardboard, plastic sheets, old CDs, paperclips, etc. e sure that the board can be removed from the robot and stored out of the way at the end of each class period. Glue or tape things to the foamboard if you need to do so.

There are plenty of materials around the lab area you can use to simulate an operation. Wooden blocks or Legos can be boxes. Dry erase markers can be welders, glue appliers, machine tools. Need a ‘tool-changer’ to hold the different colored markers? Use a drill bit to make holes in a styrofoam block and glue it in place on the board. Plastic cups can be chemical tanks. Cardboard strips can be used to create conveyors or drying ovens.

You can build your workcell in three dimensions if need be. It’s understood that you will have to include some physical manipulation of the objects to replace actual motion. So if a block needs to move along a conveyor then you can move it by hand. If a ‘proximity switch’ is made to start an action then you manually set the input in the software. We are testing if the robot can perform the prototype operation, peripheral devices will be added in the actual build. You can also build custom tooling to install on the robot in place of the grippers if need be (as long as they are removable at the end of the class period and do not damage the robot).

You will work independently on this during class time or outside class. I am available if you want ideas or you have questions. You can look up materials on the internet, or get ideas from materials in the library.
Submissions: You grade will be based on two major elements. 1. You will prepare a portfolio which will include:

(A) I want a title sheet at the front that gives the usual information, the title of your project, your name, course number, date, etc. You can put the portfolio in a binder to hold it together along with any necessary added materials.

(B) a detailed project overview. Explain to me why and where a project like this would be used in industry. What is its function? Use your research skills, “XX% of robotic applications in the US are based on welding of metals,” sort of thing. Show me that you have thought this idea out and researched the design thoroughly, not just thrown things together that do not normally work that way in the real world.

(C) a detailed written report on how your project is supposed to operate. I want a step-by-step guide that describes the operation and what is happening at each stage. Think in terms of what-if a prototype design was handed off to you to do the actual build, what would you need, or want, to know about the operation to make it work? If you want to take photos and insert them as illustrations to support the text that is fine.

Note that if you say that the robot workcell is interfacing with a CNC milling machine, I want to see the specs on that system (even if it is a Styrofoam wedge or cardboard box on the simulation). Show me what would be there in the actual design. If you say that you are using a Proximity switch, or any other sensor, I want to see the specifications for that switch even though you are going to manually force the input in your demonstration. All this should be included in a parts list page with basic specs.

(D) a layout drawing which shows the robot work envelope with every structure & position shown in scale and clearly labeled according to how it is described in the written report. So, if you say that the “spark plug base assembly” is placed in “Assembly block #1” then I want to see where “Assembly Block #1” is located on the drawing. You can use CAD, ProE, whatever you feel comfortable with as a drawing tool.

Also, if you are going to include a PLC to handle the operations of the workcell and interface the I/O with the robot, then provide the specifications for that PLC. Show me a proper wiring diagram for how the PLC integrates into the workcell. You do not have to write an actual PLC program, unless you just want to include it.

(E) Write a software program to implement your design using the programming structures we have practiced in our labs. As usual, I want to see full comments to explain the operation of the code. Tell me in the code comments where each operation of the workcell begins & ends, show me the programming structures (loops, branches, subroutines, I/O, palletizing, etc.). Again think of making this as a practical part of a working system. What if someone had to modify your program in the future? Or what if you had to do the modifications after a few years of operation, and you have forgotten what you originally wrote? What information needs to be given with the code to make it understandable to someone else who has to understand it or modify it at a later time?

(F) Surprise me with what else I would need to know about this project.
2. Each group will have about 15 minutes to do a quick synopsis of the projects operation, then do a test run demonstration to show that the program works as expected. Your team needs to do a division of labor where you are all aware of what you particular mission is during the test run. I will probably ask some questions during the explanation, and after the demonstration. Remember that as your program runs you are going to be operating the I/O on the computer and moving things around on the board. Before you do your presentation & demonstration for me, rehearse it a few times to make sure your design actually works as expected. So you need to practice this before you do this for your grade.

NOTE:

If there are MINOR problems that is OK, though it causes the loss of some points. I expect you to get this right the first time.
There are several factors I look at in assigning points:
1. The clarity, accuracy, & overall quality of the oral presentation,
2. Does the workcell actually work like it is supposed to function,
3. The innovation & imagination shown in the design (amuse me, amaze me!)
4. The quality & clarity of the written report, was everything I expected to see in there? The overview, the sequence of operations, drawings, diagrams, & program code, etc., and
5. The overall level of rigor incorporated into the design of the program that demonstrates your mastery of robotics. How much effort & skill on your part did you invest in doing this project, what was the difficulty level of the project?

Things like how many different robot tasks were you able to incorporate into your design? Were you able to effectively include all the programming structures (positions, motion, arrays, branching, loops, subroutines, I/O)? Is your workcell design logically developed so that it is efficient & effective at doing what you say it is supposed to do?

So if you want the higher points have your program do more than just the basics of shifting blocks around from place to place. Of course, if you make it too complex then the odds that something will not work as expected will increase. So don’t outsmart yourself.
There’s almost certainly something I haven’t mentioned here that you need to know so ask questions if you have them.