In the footwear industry, the development of grippers has become crucial to help robotic arms grasp and handle objects without damaging them during the manufacturing steps. Several studies show how the use of 3D-printing has allowed the rapid creation of cost-effective implementations, easily adaptable to the functionalities of the industrial systems. In this context, the present thesis describes the design of an innovative model of customized suction cup gripper for the collection of flat cut shapes, developed with Atom SpA, a world-leading company in the production of flexible material cutting machinery. The designated prototype integrates two commercial boards based on the Arduino architecture, connected over a dedicated protected Wi-Fi network in a client/server configuration. The server side, configured as an Access Point, dispatches the operating sequences to the clients, which send commands to the actuators and read their feedback signals. Opto-coupled interfaces ensure the proper signal specifications on the boards that are running the real-time control algorithms developed in C++ on the Arduino IDE, and on the actuators drives. In addition, field tests on several non-porous materials were carried out to validate the effectiveness of the proposed solution, its capability to work alongside other modules, and the reliability of the developed algorithms, tested on single operations and on complete collection cycle. The developed implementation is designed for possible future integration, for instance on a SCARA integrated with a CNC machine. The innovative approach of this project lies in the adoption of an open-source technology such as Arduino, adopted by a large community of experienced developers sharing fully tested and up-to-date functionalities. Future changes to the hardware setup like new kind of grippers or to the control strategies would affect only the software control functions coding, leaving unchanged the communication and command scheduler structure.
Nel settore calzaturiero, lo sviluppo dei gripper è diventato cruciale per aiutare i bracci robotici ad afferrare e maneggiare gli oggetti senza danneggiarli durante le fasi di produzione. Diversi studi dimostrano come l'uso della stampa 3D abbia consentito la rapida creazione di soluzioni economiche, facilmente adattabili alle funzionalità dei sistemi industriali. In questo contesto, la presente tesi descrive la progettazione di un modello innovativo di gripper a ventosa personalizzata per la raccolta di forme piane tagliate, sviluppato con Atom SpA, azienda leader a livello mondiale nella produzione di macchinari per il taglio di materiali flessibili. Il prototipo designato integra due schede commerciali basate sull'architettura Arduino, collegate su una rete Wi-Fi dedicata e protetta in una configurazione client/server. Il lato server, configurato come Access Point, trasmette le sequenze operative ai client, che inviano comandi agli attuatori e ne leggono i segnali di feedback. Delle interfacce opto-isolate garantiscono le corrette caratteristiche dei segnali sulle schede che eseguono in tempo reale gli algoritmi di controllo sviluppati in C++ sull’IDE di Arduino, e sugli azionamenti degli attuatori. Sono stati effettuati dei test finali su diversi materiali non porosi per convalidare l'efficacia della soluzione proposta, la sua capacità di lavorare a fianco di altri moduli e l'affidabilità degli algoritmi sviluppati, testati sia su operazioni singole che su un ciclo completo di raccolta. L'implementazione sviluppata è progettata per possibili future integrazioni, ad esempio su uno SCARA integrato con una macchina CNC. L'approccio innovativo di questo progetto consiste nell'adozione di una tecnologia open-source come Arduino, adottata da una vasta comunità di sviluppatori esperti che condividono funzionalità completamente testate e aggiornate. Future modifiche alla configurazione hardware come nuovi tipi di gripper o nuove strategie di controllo richiederebbero solo la codifica delle primitive di controllo degli attuatori, lasciando invariata la struttura di comunicazione e del gestore dei comandi.
Design and development of a modular vacuum gripper for robotic automation in footwear production
Ossola, Charles
2023/2024
Abstract
In the footwear industry, the development of grippers has become crucial to help robotic arms grasp and handle objects without damaging them during the manufacturing steps. Several studies show how the use of 3D-printing has allowed the rapid creation of cost-effective implementations, easily adaptable to the functionalities of the industrial systems. In this context, the present thesis describes the design of an innovative model of customized suction cup gripper for the collection of flat cut shapes, developed with Atom SpA, a world-leading company in the production of flexible material cutting machinery. The designated prototype integrates two commercial boards based on the Arduino architecture, connected over a dedicated protected Wi-Fi network in a client/server configuration. The server side, configured as an Access Point, dispatches the operating sequences to the clients, which send commands to the actuators and read their feedback signals. Opto-coupled interfaces ensure the proper signal specifications on the boards that are running the real-time control algorithms developed in C++ on the Arduino IDE, and on the actuators drives. In addition, field tests on several non-porous materials were carried out to validate the effectiveness of the proposed solution, its capability to work alongside other modules, and the reliability of the developed algorithms, tested on single operations and on complete collection cycle. The developed implementation is designed for possible future integration, for instance on a SCARA integrated with a CNC machine. The innovative approach of this project lies in the adoption of an open-source technology such as Arduino, adopted by a large community of experienced developers sharing fully tested and up-to-date functionalities. Future changes to the hardware setup like new kind of grippers or to the control strategies would affect only the software control functions coding, leaving unchanged the communication and command scheduler structure.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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2024_04_Ossola.pdf
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Descrizione: Testo della tesi
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/218474