Design and Simulation of Robot Gripper and Conveyor System for Workstations

Abstract

Abstract: Intelligent manufacturing is going to boom in the upcoming years. The characteristic features of Industry 4.0 are fully automated production facilities where all processes are controlled in real-time and take into account the changing external conditions. The core of the Industry 4.0 is made up of digitalization and robotics, in particular, the use of collaborative robots and MES. MES (Manufacturing Execution System) is a specialized system designed to solve the problems of synchronization, coordination, analysis, and optimization of production. It involves the use of conveyor belts for rapid transportation of products. Industries where conveyor belt systems are excelling include automotive, computer, good, packaging, print finishing, bottling and canning, chemical, pharmaceutical, aerospace and food processing The safety conditions in fundamental industrial jobs are dangerous and harmful combined with ineffective manual work as a result of rising need for mass manufacturing. In industries, automation is the use of technology to jobs that were previously handled by humans. It is a potent instrument that can aid companies in enhancing quality, production, and efficiency. A typical type of mechanical handling equipment that transports things from one place to another is a conveyor system. These systems consist of conveyor belts that are designed to work seamlessly with robotic arms and other automated equipment. Increased automation and mass production rate reduces the lead time and increases the profit of a firm. The deployed robotic arms are immensely capable of handling various tasks with increased flexibility. Using a robotic arm with an end effector as a gripper to hold/pick and place the material from the conveyor belt improves the product flow process. The project comes with the NodeMCU firmware and an integrated Wi-Fi chip, the ESP8266 12E. To connect with the controller via a mobile phone, a web page would be constructed using HTML and coded using the Arduino IDE's C language. At either end of the conveyor belt, 2 robotic arms with 2 degrees of freedom (D.O.F.) would be placed. Using one arm to place the product on the belt and a second to pick it up at the other end. Also calculating the analytical data of the system that is involved in reallife industrial processes along with the simulation of entire system for the UR10 industrial robot, using the RoboDK simulation software. Through the usage of this system, productivity is boosted with improved safety of the working environment, become more effective, be more flexible, and have higher levels of job satisfaction