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Abstract

The robotic/human interactive parts-­cart was designed and built as a proof of concept test bed for the CARIS Lab with application to the automotive industry. The purpose is to design a parts-­cart capable of testing and demonstrating the effective and efficient handling of parts by a robotic arm or human. While few solutions exist, they are expensive and require an overhaul of production processes in the automotive industry. The scope of this project is limited to the design and fabrication of the parts-­cart, while keeping in mind design requirements set forth by the robotic arm (WAM) and general safety for humans. The project design requirements are such that the fully configurable parts-cart must be capable of mounting a robotic arm for accessing parts in bins or pallets. The bins must be strong enough to hold 20 LBS worth of various parts, and pallets must be simple and easy to maneuver by the robot. The structure of the cart was chosen to be made of CreForm piping and joints, as they offer high structural integrity and simple configurability. After the cart was built, several testing methods were used to determine the success of the objectives: Human/Robotic Accessibility, Configurability, Deflection Tests, Vibration Tests, and Maneuverability Tests. While accessibility and maneuverability tests are qualitative in nature, they successfully provide proof that the design choices are the correct ones. The Maneuverability Test showed that the cart was able to handle extreme cases where the cart was required to go over large bumps or turn on extreme angles. The cart was also noted to be easily customizable with regards to bin and pallet sizes, and even overall dimension sizes. Since the cart was required to fit through doorways, CreForm piping made it easy to alter the overall width. The Deflection and Vibration Tests offered quantitative results for the parts-cart. Weight was applied to key stress points, and the maximum deflection was measured in the vertical and axial directions separately. It was determined that even with as much weight as 95 lbs; the vertical deflection was only 4 mm. The axial deflection, however, was noted to be much larger (5 cm) due to the lack of structural support between the bin shelving and robotic arm mount. Vibration tests were also applied in SolidWorks and determined to be minimal for the small forces expected for the cart. In a 0.5 kN test with vibrations at resonance, the largest transverse axis deflection was 20 cm. In conclusion, the parts-­cart, designed and built, follows all project objectives accordingly. Overall, the design is effective and meets the design requirements for both human and robotic control. It is capable of being maneuvered by humans and robotics and can traverse ground obstacles that are 2” (no more than 3”) and under. It is recommended that an I-beam support structure and aluminum (or metal) plate be added to the base of the cart to handle the axial deflection under load. It is also recommended that the length of the cart be shortened for the purposes of its applications in the CARIS Lab.