The objective of this Bachelor´s thesis was to determine a suitable solution which is as flexible as possible to changing material samples for analysers. Requirements for the solution were that the sample changer should be able to manipulate over 500 different samples and serve at least ten analysers simultaneously. Flexibility was one of the objectives of the the-sis because the client company´s goal is to automate several tasks in the future and a similar system could be utilized in other tasks as well. Firstly, different actuator options were considered by market research to find out how the requirements of the sample changer could be met with reasonable costs. After comparing different transportation systems and robots, it was decided that the best option for this application would be a collaborative robot arm. To determine the most suitable solution, specifications of several collaborative robot arms from the largest manufacturers were compared. After comparing different models, Omron TM5-900 and Universal Robots UR10e collaborative robot arms were borrowed for testing from local distributors. Since the two models have similar mechanical properties the testing was mostly focused on the programming environment of the robots. Universal Robots PolyScope software proved to be the better option for the sample changer because of its more open environment and better reliability. SolidWorks computer aided design program was used to do two assemblies with different Universal Robots´ collaborative robot models. These models were used to find out how much reach would be required from the robot to fit at least 500 material samples to its working area. According to the comparison with the CAD assemblies, a Universal Robots UR10e which is the model with most reach is the best option and should be acquired for the sample changer. In addition to the selection of the robot arm, some thought was given to the housing of the robot cell and gripping to the samples. The recommended gripping method for the material samples would be a vacuum gripper. The testing of the gripping will be carried out after the collaborative robot arm is acquired.
Automatic Sample Changer for Analysers
2020-01-01
Miscellaneous
Electronic Resource
English
DDC: | 629 |