Bend Effector: Robot End Effector for Bending Plates

Aim: Forming and fixing of tertiary bending active elements onto a primary/secondary structural element/frame.

Group Members: Babasola Thomas, Niloofar Imani, Plant Songkhroh.

What we need is:

1X Uno R3 Controller Board

1X Breadboard

1X USB Cable

1X Servo Motor(SG90)

1X Stepper Motor

1X ULN N2003 Stepper Motor Driver Board

1X Ultrasonic Sensor

2X Extrusion RollersWood ( Or baby toilet papers :P )

Sticks, Tape, Glue, Pins

The end effector is able to grip/pick up a strip/sheet and induce elastic bending to the desired height. The robot arm primarily serves as a means to maneuver the formed strip in the workspace.
So the hierarchy is basically:

1. Robot arm: move effector to strip depot

2.Effector: sense strip and grip (inform robot arm that strip is gripped)

3.Robot arm: Manoeuvre strip(while forming) to designated placement zone

4.Effector: once desired elastic height has been reached, request operator permission to release strip (once fixed to a substrate)

5.Effector: inform robot arm that formed strip has been released

6. Robot arm: move back to the depot to pick up next strip

Image 1: The ultrasonic sensor senses the strip as it is fed into the end effector, this is a cue for the servo motor to ‘grip’ the strip
Image 2: The servo motor acts as a grip

Image 3: Once the strip is securely fastened, the stepper motor begins rotating which induces elastic bending in the strip

Image 4: When the peak of the bent strip reaches a certain height, the information from the ultrasonic sensor conditionally stops the rotation of the stepper motor.

In the first image you can see a schematic diagram of the hardware circuit, and in the second image a sequence diagram of the process.

And finally, we have a KUKA robot end effector which can bend plates for your bendy days!