Robotic Arm Manufacturing Cell

Team CSRM is tasked with restoring the robotic arms within the manufacturing cell to working condition, and designing simple manufacturing processes that can be used as demonstrations in a future course on robotic manufacturing at the University. We also want to install a vision system on the robots to remotely check the progress of tasks that the robot is doing.

Background
2013-2014

In Spring 2013 The Boeing Company donated DENSO robotic arms to The University of Idaho College of Engineering. That fall Mechanical and Electrical Engineering students, as a part of Team Roboshow, were tasked to learn basic programming of the robotic arms and create a work-cell for the arms. Their work-cell incorporated multiple safety features as well as a clear poly-carbonate enclosure for public demonstration. The team was able to successfully program the robot to use a dry-erase marker to create logos and patterns on a white board.

2014-2015

The following year another design team, known as Team Vandalbot, was formed to design a manufacturing process which could assemble various rivet and nut-plate assemblies in order to automate a repetitive task currently done by factory workers. The team was able to demonstrate this process and provide documentation for future teams.

Summer-Fall 2016



During the Summer and Fall of 2016 team Team Do All Robotics completely redesigned the robotic manufacturing cell. They made the cell larger which allowed for operators to have easier access to the robots for things like maintenance or changing end effectors. They also made the work cell fully modular allowing future teams to rearrange the cell for their specific needs. New pedestals for the robots were also designed because the originals were very unsteady. The team also performed stress analysis on the new pedestals to ensure they wouldn't break or fall over during operation. The team also programmed the robots to do tasks such as stack cups and write with a marker on a board. Finally the team also created a simple beginners manual that included all the basics needed to run the robot.

Design Task
Problem Statement

The Mechanical Engineering Department wants to use the Denso Arms in a course on robotic manufacturing. Our main goal is to design a manufacturing process that can be used as a demonstration in this course. We also want to design a vision system that can be integrated into the robot arms so that the process can be done with almost no human interaction.

 Goals 

1. Design and setup a manufacturing process that the robot arms can perform.

2. Create a vision system using cameras and sensors so that a person outside the cell can see in detail if the process is working as intended and so the robot can identify between different parts

3. Fix the Interlock safety system that shuts down the robot if the cell door is opened.

4. Create documentation for how to connect the wires of the robot so that they may be unplugged and moved easily if needed.

Manufacturing Process
 Process Details 



The manufacturing process that the robot arms will demonstrate is fastening screws to two different plates. One plate will be a 5" x 6" rectangular plate with four holes one on each corner and the other plate will be a hexagon with 6 holes also arranged with one on each corner. The plates will all start on one holder and will be mixed up. One robot will then pick up a plate from the holder and take it to a scanner where it will scan a barcode at the bottom of the plate. Each type of plate will have a different code and the robot will know which process to run based on which code was scanned. The first robot will then pass the plate to the second robot where the second robot will fasten the screws. Once the screws are fastened the first robot will pick up the plate again and sort it into the correct outbound holder. This will be repeated for all 6 plates.

 Fixturing 

The fixturing that we designed for this manufacturing process includes two different types of plates to have screws fastened to them. One plate is hexagonal and the other is rectangular. There is also an inbound plate holder and an outbound plate holder as well as another plate to secure our plates while they are being fastened.

Project Learning
 Wincaps Software 

Wincaps is a software developed by Denso that is used to simulate how the robot will move when running a given program. It is also the software that is used to write programs for the robot which can then be imported to the controller and run from the pendant.



 Fabrication 

The team worked together and with the team mentor in the machine shop to begin creating the fixturing that will be used in the autonomous manufacturing process.

Team Members
 Reb Revels 

My name is Reb Revels. I am a Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Idaho. I am from Lewiston Idaho and enjoy long walks on the beach.

 Cameron Spaulding 

I am a Mechanical Engineering major from Boise. I've always been interested in learning how things work and building things so I decided to go into engineering. Other hobbies of mine include running,skiing,hiking and camping.