As we continue...

I will continue on a different blogg, to keep things simple....

For the rest of the CCM trophy challenge: http://mechatronicsdesign2.blogspot.nl/

Some specifics, The prototype in detail.

Now that i have shared the global idea of Tommy, it is time to share some insights in what I have done, the logic. 

First tough, here a link to the full report in Dutch.

So how is Tommy going to work?

This is the flowchart that globally describes the processes that have to be completed for all tasks to be completed. 

To run you trough it, we start at set/reset, a button that primes the robot for competition. Then its on to the main loop, it consists of Drive (rijden), crossover point (kruispunt), and Pick&place. These are the main 3 tasks that have to be completed, so this is the start and end for any action the robot takes. 

Driving consists of 3 tasks, the first is bringing the arm and hand to the maximum position, so that when the crossover point is detected the arm is in position. The second and third task are moving forward at a constant speed, and steering the robot if the line makes a turn. These two tasks require constant input, so they are outsourced to a second processor.

   

Crossover point is the process of detecting the serving tray, and stopping exactly on the specified point. This starts by sensing the crossover in the line, then stopping the robot, and adding 1 to a counter.

Pick & Place is the final task, picking up the bottle, or putting it down. This process follows directly after the robot has been stopped, and consists of lowering the arm, until it the cylinder has been placed over the bottle, filling the air cushions, and adding 1 to the bottle counter. 

When the bottle is in the firm grip of our prototype the program starts from the start by bringing the arm to its maximum height. 

As always we needed to test our concept.

please note the difference between our prototype (left) and Tommy (right)

Feedback on the past 8 weeks will follow later today, so when that has been finished I will post it here.

The Concept phase, integration of the sub-systems!

Last Friday it was D-day... 3 teams had to present their concept for the CCM trophy challenge, only 2 would continue to actually building their design.

But first I would like to introduce you to Tommy, the housekeeping robot.

Tommy is designed to help personnel in homes for the elderly focus on the tasks at hand, while Tommy takes care of the routine jobs. His looks have been designed to make him look like a teddy bear, while avoiding the idea of a humanoid robot.  Tommy moves around using 2 separate powered wheels, following his "highway" of white lines trough the building. This gives the elderly confidence in where Tommy can go, and where he cannot. All these choices are to make sure Tommy does not upset the people he is helping. To make sure Tommy avoids things on the track we outfitted him with kinect sensors and object recognition, Tommy will always be in service of the humans he is helping. This is a bit costly tough, as the full concept would cost about €2365,-

So for the Trophy challenge we want  to build a prototype that can be used to test the essential systems and the speed of the total system.

The prototype consists of a pneumatic cylinder to make the arm adjustable, for the hand we used a cylinder with a diameter of 2.5 times the bottle we need to pick up, filled with air cushions. This makes picking up the bottle no longer a process of exact measuring to make a hand grab the bottle, we just place the cylinder over the middle of the serving tray and fill the cushions. To make the height of the hand adjustable we want to use a scissor lift, this is a lot easier then say for example bringing an arm up from the waist of the robot to shoulder height.  Movement and navigation will be the same as for Tommy, except from the Kinect sensors. We will use LDR sensors to detect the line, and make the prototype follow it from begin to end. To give the robot feedback when the bottle is in the cylinder we use IR sensors with a blind spot of 5 cm, meaning if it stops seeing things its time to inflate the cushions.  Powering the wheels will be 2 transmission engines with a relative high torque, moving the prototype around at a speed of max 1.5 m/s. All our systems will be powered by a battery placed in the back of the lower part of the robot, to keep the center of gravity close to the ground.

The price of this prototype is of more realistic proportions.

The upper part is the planning we made at the start of the project, the lower part is the balance as we present it to you now. Meaning we can build this prototype at a cost of €948,51. This means that if we get sponsoring from CCM, we can and will build our prototype!

Then its now time for the unveiling of D-day, we went to CCM in Neunen, The Netherlands, for a tour trough the facility, a presentation of the company, and presenting our projects to them. Being team 3, we had to wait for almost 1.5 hour to give our presentation. Then the moment of truth came, and I had to represent the work of me and my 5 colleges, it had been a while since I was nervous like that Friday afternoon...

Then after some questions our teachers went backstage with the engineers from CCM to make the decision. 

And as it turns out, we are trough! This means next week more information on Tommy in stead of a totally new project! 

CCM was gladly suppressed with the level of tough all the teams put in their design, and pointed out that is was because they had to drop 1 team they did... 

Now its time for celebration, feedback and how to continue will be handled on Monday  as we are going to materialize our concept!

As usual, if you have questions, feedback, or you want to sponsor our project, just leave a message!