2.

Second robot
2.1 Introduction

A pick and place robot the size of a person can easily carry a load over one hundred
pounds and move it very quickly with a repeatability of +/-0.006 inches. Furthermore these
robots can do that 24 hours a day for years on end with no failures whatsoever. Though they are
reprogrammable, in many applications they are programmed once and then repeat that exact
same task for years. A pick and place robot is a robot that can be programmed to literally pick an
object up and place it somewhere. These robots are popular among business owners who require
speedy and precise automation applications and material handling systems. They are especially
practical in places such as assembly lines, where repetitive and difficult tasks need to be
performed with accuracy.
Actual robotic arm has been designed using Creo Parametrics drawings. Now robotic arm
is to be developed and able to work in the line by picking and placing components. Advantages
for this robot is it is can reach almost with base, it capable on obstacle and it also capable to
make a complex route. Also, might be used for assembly operations, die casting, fettling
machines, gas welding and spray painting.

The main parts of the robotic arm:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Base
Body
Shoulder
Elbow
Wrist
Gripper

2.2 Degrees of freedom

One of the main concepts behind the

movement of a robot is its degrees of
freedom. This refers to the robots
freedom of movement, i.e. in which
directions and rotations the robot can
move and therefore also what
constraints apply to the robot. The
links are attached via revolute joints,
these revolute joints offer 1 degree of
freedom of movement. The robot has
the ability to move in 360 degrees
rotationally about the base. This
robot has been designed to ensure
that the centre point of each link in
the robot is in one plane. Degree of
freedom is obtained by using the
equation for open looped robotic
arms as shown below:
j

F=3 ( n1 ) (3f i)
i=1

Where:
n Total degrees of freedom of links if separated (including the fixed link), n=6 for this robot
fi

Degrees of freedom of the i-th joint, 1degree of freedom for a revolute joint

j Number of the joints, there are total 5 joints

5

F=3 ( 61 ) ( 31 ) =1510=5
i1

Hence, this robotic arm has a 5 degrees of freedom. It is not always necessary to have a large
degree of freedom, as the most part they will be carrying out the same repetitive task.

2.3

Kinematic design of the robot

The study of the kinematics involves studying the geometry of motion of such an object.
Kinematics therefore is usually analysed with respect to a fixed reference co-ordinate system.
The robot is a 5 DOF stationary robot arm having base, body, shoulder, elbow, wrist and gripper.
The control of a robotic arm has been a challenge since earlier days of robots. Here kinematic
homogenous 4 x 4 matrix calculation is used to control the 5-axes robot arm.
The method employed here to solve the kinematic problem is the Denavit-Hartenberg
(DH) method. It is a methodical approach for computing the homogenous transformation matrix
of a robot manipulator in terms of four distinct parameters, which are i (the rotation of joint i
about the z-axis), ai (the translation along the x-axis between joints i and i+1), di (the translation
about the x axis between joints i and i+1), di (the translation along the z-axis between joints i and
i+1), and i (the rotation about the x axis), where i is an index number for the joint or link . This
matrix, which gives the position and expressing the joint variables in terms of the position and
orientation of the end-effector and link lengths are called inverse kinematic equations.

Links

i1

l i1

di

i1

Base

Body

-90

l1

Shoulder

90

l2

Elbow

-90

l3

Wrist

90

l4

Gripper

l5

L4
X4

X3

X5

L2
L3

X2
2
L1

X1

L5