Team Vision for Problem Definition Phase
Team Accomplishments for Project Definition Phase
- Understood customer vision and motivation for project from PRP
- Drafted customer requirements from PRP
- Converted customer requirements into engineering requirements
- Identified key stakeholders and assessed impact potential
- Developed use scenarios for utilizing equipment
- Interviewed customer to clarify concerns and motivations
- Developed list of team expectations in the form of norms and values
- Listed potential risks and quantified importance along with likelihood of occurrence
- Developed project and individual plans for the next three weeks
- Researched OSHA safety requirements for industrial robots
- Researched current robotic arms and quantified relevant characteristics to benchmark against
Project Summary
In a manufacturing environment there are many areas that could benefit from the automatic loading and unloading of finished goods from machines by robotic arms. One example is the unloading of milled parts from a CNC machine. Another example is the movement of parts from the outfeed of a large sanding machine back to the infeed area. It is important to note that at times these machines may sit unused for one or two weeks. Because of this, if each machine had a designated robotic arm for loading and or unloading they too would sit unused. A way to avoid a robotic system from sitting dormant while its assigned machine is not in use is to have one portable robotic arm that could be pre-programed to load and or unload from multiple machines. The user of this arm would simply need to place the arm next to a machine and start the program for that machine. Next to each machine there should be a marked area that will outline the docking position for the robot. Note, the body of the robot itself may need to be mechanically fastened to the ground for secure and exact placement.For this senior design project, the main objective will be to develop and build a SCARA robotic arm controller and arm for the CNC unloading situation referenced above. This arm will be used to unload a CNC table after the cutting of parts is completed. When a CNC has finished cutting wooden pieces out of a 4’ by 8’ sheet of plywood the location of the pieces will be sent to the controller application on the PC which will direct that to the robot’s controller.
Unlike other controllers in the robotics industry, the background calculations behind the motion for a robot will be done on a desktop application rather than within the internal firmware of the controller. We will be investigating using Autodesk Fusion 360 as this PC application.The focus of this project is to build a robotic arm and respective controller along with a PC application to achieve the unloading of a CNC table for multiple machines and programs.
The 1-page summary can be found here: 1-Page Project Summary
Customer Interviews
Date Interviewed | Person Interviewed | Title |
---|---|---|
1/17/2019 | Jonathan Caves | Customer |
12/14/2018 | Jim Petar | Xerox Engineer |
12/4/2018 | Mei Yen Shipek | Autodesk Engineer |
The Working Customer Interview Questions and Answers File can be found here:Customer Interview Questions and Answers
Stakeholders
Stakeholder | Position |
---|---|
Jonathan Caves | Customer |
Gary Werth | Academic Advisor |
MSD Team | Product Developers |
Manufacturing Plants Employees | Future operators of system |
Use Cases
The Working Use Case Scenarios can be found here:Use Case ScenariosProject Goals and Key Deliverables
- Working prototype of robotic solution with portability capabilities
- Program to move milled pieces to other surfaces
- Robotic controller capable of easily integrating with robot
- Detailed documentation of design details involved
Customer Requirements (Needs)
The working customer requirements document can be found here:Customer Requirements
Engineering Requirements (Metrics & Specifications)
The working Engineering Requirements can be found here: Engineering Requirements
Constraints
- There is limited space above the CNC table (no mounting to ceiling)
- Robotic arm must be able to fold up and stay out of the CNC’s working envelop
- It is a dusty environment at times
- People will be close to the machine
- Input power to the machine is 120V AC
- Budget should be lower than $1000 for prototype system
House of Quality
The Working House of Quality File can be found here:House Of Quality
Risk Management
The Working Risk Assessment can be found here: Risk Management
Design Review Materials
Design Review Power PointPlans for next phase
The working gantt chart file can be found here:Gantt
The overall project plan for phase 2 as well as the individual plans can all be found in this document:Project Plan & Individual Plan
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