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As part of the graduate-level Mechanisms and Robotics course, I led a team of four students to develop an Apple Fruit Picker robot. We modelled the robot using SolidWorks and created animations in Blender. MATLAB and Python were employed to compute the robot's Forward and Inverse Kinematics and Dynamics.
In my final year of Mechanical Engineering, I developed a keen interest in Robotics, a field blending Mechanical, Electrical, and Computer Science. So I took a Master's level course on "Mechanisms and Robotics (ME G511)", and as part of this course, I led a team of four in modelling a robot and computing the necessary kinematics and dynamics. A unique aspect of this course was the freedom Dr. Singru gave us in selecting the project topic, robot design, and dimensions, which fostered creativity and innovation among all of us. We chose to work on a Fruit Picker Robot, focusing on the design of the robot and computing the forward and inverse kinematics and dynamics required for achieving the pluck and place task .
Problem Statement:
During the fruit harvest season, costs incurred due to the hiring of labour can be reduced by employing a semi-autonomous robot that can detect and pluck the ripe fruits at the right time and drop them in a carton for further processing. Our topic focuses on designing the robot for this use case and computing the kinematics and dynamics required for the operation.
Workflow:
Design of Robot: Develop the design of the robot using SolidWorks, taking into account the required dimensions, and the configuration necessary for the motion.
Kinematics: The robot's forward and inverse kinematics and dynamics are computed to achieve the task of plucking and placing the apple fruits. The computation is carried out using MATLAB and Python programming scripts.
Design:
The robot features a six-degree-of-freedom configuration (R-P-R-R-R-R).
It has two primary motions: moving from the home position to the apple (R-P-R-R sequence) and using the gripper (last R-R) for pitch and roll motions to pluck and palletize the fruit.
Important graphical highlights:
Workspace layout in AutoCAD
Workspace layout in Blender
Robot motion visualized in Blender
The crucial calculations regarding the Kinematics and Dynamics are included in the project report. Since the mathematics is quite extensive, I have not included them on this page.
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