P16227: Inflatable Robotic Hand

Problem Definition

Table of Contents

1 Team Vision for Problem Definition Phase
2 Project Definition
3 Use Cases
4 Project Goals and Key Deliverables
5 Customer Requirements (Needs)
6 Engineering Requirements (Metrics & Specifications)
7 Constraints
- 7.1 From Customer Requirements
- 7.2 From Engineering Requirements
8 House of Quality
- 8.1 Inputs and Source
- 8.2 Outputs and Destination
9 Design Review Materials
10 Plans for next phase

Team Vision for Problem Definition Phase

The project objectives were elaborated in detail to come up with a problem definition which satisfies all parties. Customer interviews were held, and engineering requirements were drafted. House of quality analysis was performed and use case scenarios were drafted.

Project Definition

An Inflatable Robotic Hand is a portable, mountable device that can inflate, pick up and move a tennis ball, and deflate remotely. The device will presumably be house in a container mounted on a RC car. This device will utilize some of the same principles, specifically the air muscles, used in senior design projects P14253, P09023, P08023, and P08024. This project will add the ability of inflating out of a small container.

The goals of this project are to analyze previous air muscle designs, and other inflatable robot technologies, to identify an opportunity to combine these ideas into one product. The expected results is a functional prototype that can be applied to the task. The prototype must use air for generating actuation forces while resembling a hand with a minimum of three fingers.

1 Page Project Summary

Use Cases

Use Case Scenario Flow Chart

Shows use case where user picks up a tennis ball

Project Goals and Key Deliverables

The arm, hand, and vehicle can be remotely controlled by user
Pick up a tennis ball
Mounted on an RC vehicle
Inflate out from a compartment
Actuation force is produced by air muscles

Customer Requirements (Needs)

Purpose

To decompose the Problem Statement into functions of elements needed to satisfy the customer.

Customer Requirements

Authors : Travis Emery, Tim Kremers, Andres Ulloa, Gebalanage Jayasekera, Lucas Prilenski, Dr. Kathleen Lamkin-Kennard
Last Edit: 9/3/15

Requirements

Requirement Number	Importance	Description
C001	9	Must use air for inflation and actuation forces
C002	9	Must be able to pick up a tennis ball up to 2 in off the ground
C003	9	Must resemble a hand or fingers
C004	9	Must inflate from a container housed on an RC vehicle
C005	3	Must deflate fully back into the container
C006	9	Must be remote controlled
C007	9	Material selection must withstand inflation/deflation cycles without popping or tearing
C008	3	Use a single controller to control both the robotic arm and the RC vehicle
C009	3	Prototype and final model must be built with a $750 budget
C010	3	Move object (tennis ball) from one location to another
C011	1	Mounted camera for targeting and navigation

Inputs

PRP
Problem Statement
Customer Interviews
Art North & Dr. Lamkin-Kennard.

Outputs

Customer Requirements

Engineering Requirements (Metrics & Specifications)

Purpose

Create a contract between the engineer and the customer where indisputable satisfaction of the engineering requirements equates to customer satisfaction

Requirements:

rqmt #	Importance	Engineering Requirement	Unit	Target Value	Marginal Value
001	1	Air compressor power	psi	> 120	100
002	9	Air compressor flow rate	scfm	> 0.88	0.3
003	9	Inflation time	sec	< 2	5
004	3	Deflation time	sec	< 10	15
005	3	Inflation arm reach	in	> 6	4
006	1	Object lift distance	in	> 6	4
007	9	Hand grip strength	psi	> 20	15
008	3	Stored air volume	ml	> 1200	200
009	3	Stored air pressure	psi	< 100	80
010	9	Number of fingers on robotic hand	units	= 3	3
011	9	Battery life	min	> 90	30
012	3	Chassis load weight capacity	lb	< 40	120
013	9	Chassis surface mount area	in^2	< 24x24	30x30
014	3	Arm container cross-sectional area	in^2	< 6x6	8x8
015	1	Arm container height	in	< 8	10

Inputs and Source

PRP
Dr. Lamkin-Kennard
Art North

Outputs and Destination

HoQ.

Constraints

From Customer Requirements

Inflation mechanism must use air only
Robotic arm and hand must fit inside a small container

From Engineering Requirements

Weight of robotic arm, air compressor, tank, and control systems must not exceed chassis weight capacity
Must have large enough power source to supply power to the motors, compressors, and control systems