SAMK Archives - Robotics Academy

Precise measurement using machine vision

The Robotics Academy was commissioned to investigate further the potential of machine vision for Neorem Magnets’ needs. Atte Ali-Hokka and Juha Aalto were involved in the project in the Robotics Academy team. The project was directed by Joonas Kortelainen. The task of the team was to investigate the possibility to measure the object delivered by the company with a machine vision camera in the Satakunta University of Applied Sciences’ RoboAI collaborative laboratory.

The customer wanted to study the technical dimensions and quality of the object as accurately and reliably as possible. The project used an IDS camera that captures the subject in very high resolution. The team implemented the program in Halcon development environment that meets the customer’s requirements. The group had no previous experience with machine vision, but the Academy students were happy to take up the challenge.

The client was particularly interested in exploring the possibilities of measuring and examining the area of the object and its formal correctness compared to the technical drawings provided by the company. The students had no previous experience in creating such a program so students went on to study the measurement of the object by creating a program that can measure the length, angles of sides and perimeter of the object.

As the team learned about the new object an image was created in the real world coordinate system allowing the size of the object to be measured in millimeters. This development step opened the doors for the working group to a whole new way of measuring, as it was now possible to compare the image to the technical drawings provided by the customer to the working group.

Summary:

The customer seemed satisfied with the results achieved by the working group. The students and the client felt that both parties had benefited from the project. For students, this benefit is reflected in the amount of learning that students gained from working on the project with a great deal of machine vision, as well as camera, lighting, and programming techniques. The Robotics Academy would like to thank Neorem Magnets for taking the opportunity to explore their expertise and provide an interesting project.

3D printing

Automated disposable cup dispenser

Satakunta University of Applied Sciences has a Universal Robots 5 (UR5) robot arm, which is utilized for educational purposes by students as well as for school demonstrations. A demonstration that has proven popular at public events includes a program in which the robot pours the contents of the bottle into three cups. One major issue with this demonstration is the need to manually ensure the placement of the cups. The number of drinks served at these public events range from tens to hundreds, depending on the audience, so it made more sense to use a machine to place cups automatically.

Robotics Academy was commissioned to build an automated dispenser that drops individual cups for the robot to place. Initially, we studied different options and mechanisms for our cup dispenser. We wanted to be able to change out the mechanical parts easily if necessary, so we decided to design parts that can be 3D-printed. Our entire dispenser is designed with SolidWorks, a 3D mechanical engineering software, from the body to all the mechanical parts specifically to fit the robot.

The final model was printed on the school’s Ultimaker 3D printer as individual physical pieces. We chose to use biodegradable and inexpensive PLA plastic. The roll of plastic cable is fed into the printer’s extruder head, which melts the material and extrudes the plastic as thin layers on the heated print bed. 3D printers can use materials such as plastic, metal, ceramic or glass. In this way, making the new parts (e.g., gears and other parts) is as easy as possible. The biggest challenge in designing was to make the cups drop one by one, not in multiples.

Arduino is a small microcomputer capable of executing a variety of C ++ programming languages. Implementing the project required functional teamwork and creative problem solving, along with learning C++. The coding of the Arduino Uno, the brains of the dispenser, also brought its own challenge. It took some time to get the dispenser to drop the cup and then extend after receiving the signal to put it within reach of the UR 5 robot. The solution is designed to be editable if there is a need for it in the future.

Summary

In the project, we learned a lot about 3D design, 3D printing and Arduino coding. It is perfectly possible to utilize every aspect of corporate painting or even at home, so please contact us, so we look at how we can help you.