UWE Bristol Engineering showcase 2015
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Anthony Burch<br />
MEng Mechanical <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Project Supervisor<br />
Tushar Dhavale<br />
Industrial Automation of a Pick-and-Place Process<br />
for Seed Development Ltd.<br />
Three design concepts were created<br />
that posed potential solutions to<br />
the existing problems. Each of these<br />
concepts was developed and<br />
modelled using CAD software. They<br />
can be seen below.<br />
Examples of seed tapes.<br />
Concept Selection<br />
The Vacuum Suction – Linear<br />
Motion concept was selected to be<br />
further developed throughout the<br />
rest of the project. This was then<br />
split into different components<br />
which could be analyzed.<br />
The following three components<br />
were redesigned to improve upon<br />
the original conceptual design.<br />
Project summary<br />
Seed Development Ltd’s factory currently contains a<br />
process that requires to workers to place seed tapes<br />
into a slot in a moving conveyor belt. This simple task<br />
requires a relatively large budget and therefore an<br />
automated system could be designed in order to<br />
improve upon the current process whilst saving<br />
money.<br />
Concept 1: Vacuum Suction –<br />
Motor Driven<br />
This concept features carriages<br />
travelling along a track each<br />
containing an individual suction<br />
nozzle. The seed tape would be<br />
picked up on one side of the track<br />
and then dropped off on the other<br />
side of the track.<br />
Concept 2: Vacuum Suction –<br />
Linear Motion<br />
This concept features a dual-acting<br />
actuator which travels back and<br />
forth in a straight line between the<br />
pick-up point and the drop-off<br />
point. The entire system is<br />
controlled by a computer.<br />
Concept 3: Conveyor Belts<br />
This conveyor belt features 3<br />
conveyor belts which transport the<br />
seed tapes to the drop-off point.<br />
The first conveyor belt produces a<br />
stream of single seed tapes, the<br />
second belt then equally spaces<br />
them and the final belt drops them<br />
into their slot<br />
Suction Grippers<br />
The suction grippers were<br />
redesigned so that they would pick<br />
up the seed tapes with less error.<br />
There are now 4 smaller suction<br />
grippers instead of one larger<br />
suction gripper.<br />
Stack Holder<br />
The stack holder was redesigned<br />
with the linear actuator positioned<br />
above instead of below the seed<br />
tapes. This means that more seed<br />
tapes can be stored in the stack<br />
holder at once and it will have to be<br />
refilled more often.<br />
Pneumatic Cylinder<br />
It was decided that the suction<br />
grippers would be attached to a<br />
pneumatic cylinder. This enables<br />
the suction grippers to be lowered<br />
onto the seed tapes and into the<br />
slots, then raised out of those<br />
positions.<br />
Project Objectives<br />
The aims of the design are to:<br />
• To maximize the speed at which the system can<br />
operate.<br />
• To minimize the overall cost of the system.<br />
• For the system to work with the lowest possible<br />
error rate.<br />
• To maximize the lifetime of the system.<br />
Project Conclusion<br />
The design of the individual components is improving<br />
the overall design and should provide a replacement<br />
system that performs better than that which is<br />
currently in place. The error rate of the suction<br />
gripper should be lower no that they have been<br />
redesigned and the error rate of the pick-up and<br />
drop-off process should be lower due to the<br />
incorporation of a pneumatic cylinder. The redesign<br />
of the Stack Holder will maximize the amount of seed<br />
tapes that can be stored which means there is less<br />
operator interaction.
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