International Conference on Mechanical, Industrial and Energy Engineering 2010

23-24 December, 2010, Khulna, BANGLADESH

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Design and Implementation of an Articulated Robotic Arm for Precise Positioning

Enaiyat Ghani Ovy 1,*, S.M.Ferdous 2, Mohammad Rokonuzzaman 2, Hasibul Hasan3, N.A.Chowdhury1 Department of Mechanical & Chemical Engineering, Islamic University of Technology, Gazipur-1704, BANGLADESH 2 Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Islamic University of Technology, Gazipur-1704, BANGLADESH 3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, BANGLADESH
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ABSTRACT This project is intended to design an articulated robotic arm which could locate a point in space with its given coordinates at three degrees of freedom. The basic three rotary movements are base rotation, first and second arm swivel. With different payload capability and design, the robot can be employed in various industrial applications including spot welding, assembling, cutting, material handling and many more. The mechanical structure is designed and a physical setup is developed for which a microcontroller based control circuit is designed for the purpose of control. This paper is focused mainly on the mechanical design of the structure. An elaborate analytic description of the components and tools is presented with necessary specifications. This structure is very flexible and has the ability to reach over obstructions. It can achieve different positions and orientations with in the working envelop. Keywords: Articulated robot arm, Degrees of freedom, Stepper motor, Autodesk Inventor

1. Introduction The manufacturing of a robot arm involves the designing and controlling the manipulator. This paper is solely based on the design of an articulated robot arm. The design criteria of robotic arm are very important. The flexible design gives the more degrees of freedom to the arm. The design of a robotic manipulator which comprises four revolute and two prismatic joints that obtains high accuracy and high stiffness to weight ratio of the links [1]. The optimum design of robotic arm is developed which is under the time-dependent stress and displacement constraints by using mathematical programming. To develop the modeling of the flexible links, finite elements are used [2]. The counterbalance design of articulated robotic arm is developed where the virtual work principle is used [3]. In design point of view, the synthesis of an articulated robotic arm which comprises an assembly of three links and three revolute joints is very important [4]. The precise design of robotic arm needs developed software by which the details of the arm can be shown. The design of the pieces of robotic arm was done in Inventor [5]. In our present work, we have shown the detail design of a robotic arm having three degrees of freedom with the help of Autodesk Inventor 2010 software. The mechanical design, specifications, transmission are highlighted in this paper very clearly. Also the mathematical modeling of the arm is shown here. 2. Mechanical Specifications Degrees of freedom: 3 Repeatability: 0.5 mm at the end of arm (fully extended)

Mechanical capabilities: Joint Base First arm Second arm Maximum Angle(degree) 360 90 90 Range of Allowable Speed(degree per second) 0-27 0-10 0-10

3. Materials for the Robot The material used for the manufacturing of the robot is plastic, which was 4 mm thick. Plastic body makes the robot light and nice. Plates of plastics were jointed with a special type of glue made of plastic dusts mixing with Chloroform. The driving force is important matter for the robot. Hence the weight should be taken care. Some holes were drilled on the robotic arm body to make it comparatively lighter so that power required to move up arm become less. 4. Different Movements Three different movements are employed in the robotic arm which can be titled like: Waist Movement First Arm Movement Second Arm Movement 4.1 Waist Movement The waist of the robotic arm is controlled by the spur gear mechanism which is placed in the base of arm. The stepper motor is directly coupled with a pinion having 20 teeth. The pinion is meshed with a gear having 258 teeth. Hence the speed of the motor is decreased by around 13 times and the torque is increased by the same ratio. The gear holds the total assembly on it so that the assembly can rotate according to the requirements.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +88-01714334897 E-mail address: enaiyat_ovy@yahoo.com

Fig.1 First stepper motor is used in the set up to rotate the base. 4.2 First Arm Movement Another stepper motor is coupled with a worm reducer, which has a reduction ratio of 40:1. The worm reducer will transmit the power to the shaft. This shaft is connected to the first (lower) arm. So if the shaft rotates then the first arm will rotate accordingly. Fig.4 Mechanical structure of the robotic arm 5. Mechanical Design 5.1 Stepper Motor Specifications Volt : 5V Current : 1.4A Step : 1.8/Step Fig.2 Second stepper motor is used in the set up for moving the elbow up and down. 4.3 Second Arm Movement A third stepper motor is coupled with the second (upper) arm. This motor transmits the motion directly to the shaft which is connected to the second (upper) arm. This shaft rotates according to the rotation of the motor and the rotation of the shaft also causes the rotation to the second arm. In this case, the gear transmission system was not used to transmit the power to the second arm shaft. The mechanical design is prepared by the AutoDesk Inventor 2010 software. The significant aspects of the design includes the flexibility of the manipulator. The detail design including the parts is shown here.

Fig.3 Third stepper motor is used in the set up for moving the arm up and down.

Fig.5 Mechanical design of the robotic arm

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Fig.6 Showing the design of the first arm (dimensions in mm)

Fig.7 Showing the design of the second arm (dimensions in mm)

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6. Basis Behind to Decide On the System a. Pinion gear mechanism gives the system high torque. b. The worm reducer has a high transmission ratio as compared to the other transmission elements. c. The worm reducer takes smaller place as compared to the other conventional transmission elements. 7. Reasons Behind to Select the Stepper Motor: a. They are compatible with digital systems and not require digital to analog conversion at the input. b. While simple open loop control is good enough for the control of position and speed, it can also be used in closed loop position and speed control system with either analog or digital system. c. A wide range of step angle is available off the shelf from most manufactures, in the range of 1.8 to 90. d. Bi-directional control is available. e. Maximum torque occurs at low plus rates. f. Low speeds are possible without reduction gear. g. Moment of inertia is usually low. h. Multiple stepper motor driven from the same source can maintain perfect synchronization. Fig.8 Showing the design of the mounting (dimensions in mm) 8. Motion Conversion Rotary to rotary motion conversion is associated in the set up. One stepper motor is coupled with the pinion and the rotation of the waist is achieved through the transmission of the motion with the help of pinion gear mechanism. Another stepper motor is coupled with the worm gear shaft and the worm gear is meshed with the spur gear so that the rotary motion is transmitted to the spur gear. The spur gear is connected to the shaft. Finally the third stepper motor is coupled with the shaft which is connected to the second (upper) arm. The motion of the third stepper motor is directly transmitted to the shaft. So, rotary to rotary motion conversion technique is applied through the joints in the robotic arm. 9. Modeling and Analysis of the Robotic Arm For modeling the robotic arm it can be assumed that a mechanical load along with a gear train is driven by a stepper motor. Three similar identical electromechanical models like this can be considered for the whole setup. The response of the arm is to be determined when the stepper motor is excited by a voltage pulse. A model is developed for the stepper motor system to predict its behavior. The arm can be modeled as the electromechanical system shown in fig.10. Fig.9 showing gear pinion mesh (dimensions in mm)

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them. The flux density will depend on the angular position of the rotor and thus we can write

T = Ktisin
N1

(5)

Vb

Where, Kt is the torque constant. This torque will cause an angular acceleration and since T = J , We can write

T = J d 2 = Ktisin dt
N2
Fig.10 Electromechanical model of the arm The system involving a stepper motor being driven by pulses from a microcontroller is an open loop control system. Referring to the fig.10 if V is the voltage supplied to the motor pair of coils and Vb is the back e.m.f., we can write

(6)

Where, J= Equivalent moment of inertia of the system.

J = Jm + (

N1 2 ) JL N2

Where Jm= Motor Inertia JL= Load Inertia Here the value of damping D is very less and hence can be negligible. Taking Laplace transformation and rewriting

di V - Vb = L + Ri dt

(1)

J ( s) I(s) = s Ktsin
2

(7)

Where L is the inductance and R is the resistance of the motor. The back e.m.f Vb will be proportional to the rate at which the magnetic flux is changing for the pair of coils. This will depend on the angle of the rotor relative to the poles concerned. Thus we can write

So we can write

V(s) - sKbsin (s) =

(sL+R)(s2J (s)) Ktsin

(8)

d Vb = -Kb (cos ) dt d = Kbsin dt

The transfer function between the input voltage and the resulting angular displacement is (2)

G(s) =

Where, Kb is the back e.m.f constant. This equation implies that the back e.m.f will vary sinusoidally and thus affect the response of the motor. Substituting the value of Vb in equation (1)

Kt sin J(sL+ K)s 2 + KbKtssin 2 V ( s) Kt sin = 1 s JLs 2 + JRs + KbKtsin 2 =

(s)

(9)

The system can be represented with the following diagram

V - Kbsin

d di = L + Ri dt dt

(3)

V+

(s)
1 sL + R 1 s K t sin Js

Taking Laplace transform of the equation (3)

Vb

V(s) - sKbsin (s) = sLI(s) + RI(s) V(s) - sKbsin (s) = (sL + R)I(s)
(4)

The generated torque is proportional to the product of the flux density at the coil turns and the current through

K b sin
Fig.11 Block Diagram of the System

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The single step response of the arm is simulated and obtained using MATLAB. The response curve of the base, 2nd and 3rd arm due to a single pulse is shown in fig.1, 2, and 3 respectively. The system behaves in an under damped manner defined by the curves shown. The step time or the rise time is 0.02s which is highly dependent on the ratio of the torque to inertia (load) as well as the type of driver used. High value of torque causes a high acceleration, which causes overshoots and ringing as can be seen in the curves. The system has certain amount of overshoots and needs some time to settle down. For our system this much of overshoot and oscillation can be allowed to have a quick rise time. The overshoot and oscillation can be reduced or eliminated by using a micro stepping motor. A critically damped response would be more desirable but it will give a lower rise time or step time. Introducing an additional mechanical or electrical damping (switching from full step to half step) can reduce the unwanted oscillation and rise time can be reduced by proper compensation of the system. From the response curve, we can observe the accuracy of the rotation of the motor. The rotation of the motor is almost 1.3 degree/step which is close to the specified value of the motor (1.8 degree/ step). The accuracy of a stepper motor is mainly a function of mechanical precision of its parts and assembly. Using a good quality motor with greater precision can ensure better accuracy.

Angle (degree)

Time (sec) Fig.14 Single step response of the second arm 10. Conclusion and Future Work The design of an articulated robotic arm having three degrees of freedom is presented here. The design is prepared with precise dimension by the Autodesk Inventor 2010 software. The physical model is developed in the University laboratory. The modeling and analysis of the arm is also done by the established equations and MATLAB. In the present work, the end effector design is not considered. Any type of end effector can be attached to the system developed. The sole purpose of this paper is to implement the robotic arm in spot welding operation. In this regard the attempt been made was successful and the arm can be implemented in industrial operation where spot welding is frequently needed. The future prospect of this work might be the integration of the robotic arm with the automated guided vehicle for the implementation in industrial automation. REFERENCES [1] Karim Abdel-Malek, Burton Paul, Criteria for the design of manipulator arms for a high stiffness-toweight ratio, Journal of Manufacturing Systems, Volume 17, Issue 3, 1998, Pages 209-220. S. Oral, S. Kemal Ider, Optimum design of highspeed flexible robotic arms with dynamic behavior constraints, Computers & Structures, Volume 65, Issue 2, October 1997, Pages 255-259. S.C. Li, J.X. Qiu, J.Y. Zhu, The Counterbalance Design of the Articulated Robot Arms, CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology, Volume 39, Issue 1, 1990, Pages 455-458. M. Akyurt, A. S. Balamesh, A. A. N. Aljawi, F. M. Dehlawi, Synthesis of Articulated Robotic Arms, Journal of Islamic Academy of Sciences 11:1, 19-26, 1998. Maxine Emerich, Design of a six Degree-ofFreedom Articulated Robotic Arm for Manufacturing Electrochromic Nanofilms, The Sweet Briar College Honors Journal, Spring 2009 Honors Journal

Angle (degree)

Time (sec) Fig.12 Single step response of base

[2]

[3] Angle (degree)

[4]

[5]

Time (sec) Fig.13 Single step response of the first arm

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