Precision in Motion
About Robotic Arm
This robotic arm, developed by IvLabs students, performs precise pick-and-place tasks with high accuracy. Utilizing servos and efficient mechanical design, it automates object movement between predefined points, ideal for manufacturing and material handling applications.
OVERVIEW
The robotic arm is a pioneer of modern robotics and finds its applications in industries, laboratories, human-assisted operations, medical robotics, and even in prosthesis.
Kriti, the 3-DOF robotic arm, is a single-handed attempt to replicate the prodigy and a doorway to learn and culminate Mechanical Design, Image Processing, and Syndicated Programming. The robot can perform simple pick-and-place operations.
INSIGHT
THE VISION
The system employed the use of an overhead camera, which detects the current and target position of the object relative to the bot.
Colored markers were used for the detection of the positions of the bot, pick-up, and land. The locations of these markers, multiplied by the camera matrix, gave us the respective values in world coordinates up to a good approximation.
THE BRAIN
MATLAB is a fast, versatile numerical computing environment. Our system uses MATLAB for processing the image, calculating the positions, followed by calculating the inverse kinematics for our arm. The motor angles were then published to the USB port in a serial manner.
THE CORTEX
The OpenCM9.04 is an open-source microcontroller board based on 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3. This device converts the motor angles calculated by MATLAB from USB to a 32-bit binary stream for the motors to understand.
THE DESIGN
The robotic arm was designed in SolidWorks software, and the links were 3D printed in ABS material.
The end-effector design was inspired by a lobster’s claw, which gave us the versatility to grab objects of different sizes.
Dynamixel AX-12 motors were used for the actuation.
TECH SPECS
ACTUATORS
- Motors – Dynamixel AX-12A
- Weights – 55 gm
- Stall Torque – 15.3 Kg-cm
- Angle of Rotation – 300 degree/Continuous turn
- Size – 32mm x 50mm x 40mm
LINKS
- Link 1 – 12.8 cm
- Link 2 – 13.5 cm
- Material – ABS
- Weight – 390 grams