Locking mechanism
The joints had to be such that they can be loosened and tightened at any required configuration, this obstacle was overcome by the use of wing nut at the end of the screw instead of a normal nut, and the image below shows the wing nut and bolt. This is the most cost effective yet strong way of locking the joints compared to knobs and other clamp mechanisms.
Materials
For the Robot Arm Construction our group members had a variety of materials to choose from, these materials would eventually be utilized in the building of the Arm including its base and links. The materials which were chosen are mentioned below;
1. Aluminum :
Almost every link and part is made up of aluminum in our ‘Robot Arm’. From the base till the end effector every piece consists of aluminum which is filed and cut precisely from an aluminum L-shape rod’s except in some exceptional cases where an aluminum sheet of 2mm was used and the wrist before the end effector was casted and especially made from an outsource workshop based on the dimensions we provided to them. The L shaped rod was cut to particular length to provide link for each piece of arm and several small holes were bore into the arm links to reduce weight of the arm. End effector hook was bought from a hardware store pre made and just attached to the wrist joint. Advantages: • Easily available • Light weight • Good strength to weight ratio • Corrosion resistant surface • Shinny surface finish • Recycle-able easily Disadvantages: • Expensive • Scratch-able surface • Not very strong compared to steel 2. Steel : The second most used material in our robot arm is steel, since it has been used in all of the joints those include clamps, nut and bolts, base L-shaped joints and pin joint on the base. The wheels on the base also house the steel casing around them which is glued to the MDF circular base. Since it can resist high loads or bear them which is acting on the joints either through moments or bending, steel is the suitable material to be selected. Advantages: • Strong • In-expensive • Most utilized and easy to find Disadvantages: • Less corrosion resistant than aluminum • Difficult to cut or file • Only available …show more content…
• Highly recycle-able
4. Plexi-Glass :
It has only been used once in the whole project and that is to make the octagon shape of the rotating 360o base which is resting on the wheels. Plexi-Glass was a rectangular sheet which was cut in octagon shape using cutter and was later phi-led to achieve the desired shape and to perfect the edges they were chamfered. It is connected to the MDF mini base by a pin joint.
Since plexie glass is clear and transparent, it gives a clean and more clear look to the whole project and to see how the rolling wheels mechanism works. The surface of plexi-glass is smooth which provides enough friction for the wheels to rotate the octagon plate.
Advantages:
• It is only half as heavy as glass.
• Working with it is much easier because it can also be sawed, whereas glass must be scored.
• A transparency rate of 93% makes Plexie the clearest material known.
• A unique property of plexie is that it can be shaped easily.
• Strong enough to bear upto 15 N of
The joints had to be such that they can be loosened and tightened at any required configuration, this obstacle was overcome by the use of wing nut at the end of the screw instead of a normal nut, and the image below shows the wing nut and bolt. This is the most cost effective yet strong way of locking the joints compared to knobs and other clamp mechanisms.
Materials
For the Robot Arm Construction our group members had a variety of materials to choose from, these materials would eventually be utilized in the building of the Arm including its base and links. The materials which were chosen are mentioned below;
1. Aluminum :
Almost every link and part is made up of aluminum in our ‘Robot Arm’. From the base till the end effector every piece consists of aluminum which is filed and cut precisely from an aluminum L-shape rod’s except in some exceptional cases where an aluminum sheet of 2mm was used and the wrist before the end effector was casted and especially made from an outsource workshop based on the dimensions we provided to them. The L shaped rod was cut to particular length to provide link for each piece of arm and several small holes were bore into the arm links to reduce weight of the arm. End effector hook was bought from a hardware store pre made and just attached to the wrist joint. Advantages: • Easily available • Light weight • Good strength to weight ratio • Corrosion resistant surface • Shinny surface finish • Recycle-able easily Disadvantages: • Expensive • Scratch-able surface • Not very strong compared to steel 2. Steel : The second most used material in our robot arm is steel, since it has been used in all of the joints those include clamps, nut and bolts, base L-shaped joints and pin joint on the base. The wheels on the base also house the steel casing around them which is glued to the MDF circular base. Since it can resist high loads or bear them which is acting on the joints either through moments or bending, steel is the suitable material to be selected. Advantages: • Strong • In-expensive • Most utilized and easy to find Disadvantages: • Less corrosion resistant than aluminum • Difficult to cut or file • Only available …show more content…
• Highly recycle-able
4. Plexi-Glass :
It has only been used once in the whole project and that is to make the octagon shape of the rotating 360o base which is resting on the wheels. Plexi-Glass was a rectangular sheet which was cut in octagon shape using cutter and was later phi-led to achieve the desired shape and to perfect the edges they were chamfered. It is connected to the MDF mini base by a pin joint.
Since plexie glass is clear and transparent, it gives a clean and more clear look to the whole project and to see how the rolling wheels mechanism works. The surface of plexi-glass is smooth which provides enough friction for the wheels to rotate the octagon plate.
Advantages:
• It is only half as heavy as glass.
• Working with it is much easier because it can also be sawed, whereas glass must be scored.
• A transparency rate of 93% makes Plexie the clearest material known.
• A unique property of plexie is that it can be shaped easily.
• Strong enough to bear upto 15 N of