FLL Robot Design Workshop
Tool Design and Mechanism
Prepared by
Dr. C. H. (Tony) Lin
Principal Engineer
Tire and Vehicle Mechanics
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
[email protected] Description
Mechanism (Attachment) is extending
a simple robot into a powerful robot
that can control and change its
environment. Learning about how
properly design attachments for your
robot to meet a particular challenge
can make for a winning robot.
A Systematic Design Methodology
1. Identify the functional requirements, based on mission
requirements, of a class of mechanisms of interest.
2. Determine the nature of motion (i.e., planar, spherical, or
spatial mechanism), degrees of freedom (DOF), type, and
complexity of the mechanisms.
3. Identify the structural characteristics associated with some
of the functional requirements.
4. Enumerate all possible kinematic structures that satisfy the
structural characteristics using graph theory and
combinatorial analysis.
5. Sketch the corresponding mechanisms and evaluate each of
them qualitatively in terms of its capability in satisfying the
remaining functional requirements. This results in a set of
feasible mechanisms.
6. Select a most promising mechanism for dimensional
synthesis, design optimization, computer simulation,
prototype demonstration, and documentation
7. Enter the Building phase.
Robot Design and Construction
Planning what does the team want to
achieve and how will they achieve it? Let
the kids do it!
Design iteration
Brainstorm (what to build)
Design (how to build it)
Build it!
Test it!
Repeat until its perfect (or good enough)
Trade-offs: Good, Quick, Cheap pick two
(at most)! Quality Schedule Budget
How to make things stiff
Use your hypotenuse!
Use right triangles
3-4-5, 6-8-10, 12-16-20, (5,12,13) etc.
Interlock bricks & beams
Two thin bricks in between
Lock with vertical beam
Triple beams (double shear)
Three-pins instead of two pins
Technic Design School
http://technic.lego.com/technicdesignschool/default.asp
Courtesy of Team RED Robot Construction and Design
Demonstration
Three-pins vs. two-pins when used
with more than three beams
Two pin structures bend
Three-pins much more rigid
Stacked beams with
grey two-pins
Stacked beams with
black two-pins
Stacked beams with
black/blue three-pins
Courtesy of Team RED Robot Construction and Design
How to make things strong
Use large parts
Dont use several small parts when one large part will
suffice
Stiffness decreases with the number of parts used to
do a task
Use L-beams to form right angles
Do not use two beams and a pin, use an L
Make structures out of beams, not axles
when possible
Axles are more flexible than beams consistency and
precision
Courtesy of Team RED Robot Construction and Design
Stiffness v. Length Demo
If we need something longer than 15
Two beams overlapped
More overlap = stronger beam
2 x 11
2 x 15
Courtesy of Team RED Robot Construction and Design
Classification of Mechanisms
No DOF Mechanisms
Planar Mechanisms (1-2 DOF)
Planar Linkages
Geared Mechanisms
Chain & Pulley
Spatial Mechanisms (1-3 DOF)
Spherical Mechanisms (>= 3 DOF)
* Remember your robot can move
Examples
Examples
FLL Robot Attachments (Standard Kits)
Passive Attachments
Pushing attachment
Hooking attachment
Dumping attachment
Collecting attachment
Spring-loaded attachment
Power Attachments
Grabbing attachment
Lifting attachment
Pushing attachment
Turning attachment
Hooking attachment
Dumping attachment
Collecting attachment
Passive Attachments
Pushing attachment
Flat surface or Angled surfaces
Move game elements independently or in
a container (Flat surface )
Move game elements out of robots path
(Angled surfaces)
Example: 2010 M&Ms design
Complete Examples
Exercise #1
Build Push Plate (15 minutes)
Pins Guide Attachment
BOM
Instruction
Passive Attachments
Hooking attachment
Fork and Hook attachments
Collecting special objects
Can be combined with power assist to
lift, sweep and drop
Example: 2010 M&Ms design
Complete Examples
Exercise #2
Hooks(15 minutes)
BOM
Instruction
Passive Attachments
Dumping attachment
Container to move game elements to
specific location
Based on basic four-bar linkage or
simple hinge mechanism
Example: 2011 Brazing Brains design
Exercise #3
Four-Bar Carrier(30 minutes)
BOM
Instruction
Passive Attachments
Collecting attachment
Object trap - Box opens only inward
Sweeper moving object in certain
direction
Capture objects to return to base
Example: 2011 Brazing Brains design
Exercise #4
Trap Box (30 minutes)
BOM
Instruction
Passive Attachments
Spring-loaded attachment
Snap or pre-loaded
Collecting, hitting, or turn
Combining with other mechanisms or
trigger
Example: 2011 Brazing Brains design
Exercise #5
Spring Loaded Hook (20 minutes)
BOM
Instruction
Exercise #6
Spring Loaded Trigger (20 minutes)
BOM
Instruction
Courtesy of Team RED Robot Construction and Design
FLL Robot Attachments
Passive Attachments
Pushing attachment
Hooking attachment
Dumping attachment
Collecting attachment
Spring-loaded attachment
Power Attachments
Grabbing attachment
Lifting attachment
Pushing attachment
Turning attachment
Hooking attachment
Dumping attachment
Collecting attachment
Power Attachments
Using third motor as power source to
generate controllable motion
Attachments would be designed to
connect to the fixed motor
Considerations:
Motor location
Moving space
Moving speed & torque
Power Attachments
Grabbing and Collecting attachment
Claw, Vise Grip, Trap
Power Attachments
Lifting, Hooking and Dumping attachment
Lever, Forklift, Trap
Example: 2010 M&Ms design
Exercise #7
Forklift(40 minutes)
BOM
Instruction
Power Attachments
Pushing attachment
LEGO Actuator or Custom Actuator
Power Attachments
Turning attachment
Controllable turning action
Define turning angle, direction and arm
length
Gear type, ratio and direction
Gears and Usage
Regular spur gears
Gearing up or down, changing speed or torque,
Converting rotary to linear motion (rack and pinion)
Bevel gears and crown gears
Change shaft direction by 90 degrees
Note direction of rotation changes
(4 tooth is also good for this task)
Torque
Will only apply a given level of torque before slipping
Worm
Changing direction, speed, and torque (its a 1 tooth gear)
Eliminates back driving
Gear Ratio =
No. Teeth Input/No. Teeth Output
Example: 2011 Brazing Brains design
Exercise #8
Gear & Grip (40 minutes)
BOM
Instruction
Example Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h
3PS7nIihOw
Passive and power attachments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o
7RiDjcm5Dg
Power attachment forklift & actuator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V
T5_ziLhENE&feature=related
Passive and power attachments
* Identify mechanisms that had been used within each video.
FLL Robot Attachments (Non-Standard Kits)
Pneumatics operation
Pneumatics give the robot another power
source of manipulation besides LEGO NXT
servos (motor)
Powerful
Partial controllable motion - On/off switch
with pneumatic actuator
Examples
lifting attachment
References
Mechanism Design : Enumeration of Kinematic Structures
According to Function, Lung-Wen Tsai
Winning Design! LEGO Mindstorms NXT, David J. Trobaugh
Designing for FLL with Lego Mindstorms Hints and Tips, Team
Unlimited, FTC0001, unlimited.syraweb.org
Robot Mechanisms and Mechanical Devices Illustrated, Paul E.
Sandin
Building Robots with LEGO MINDSTORMS, Mario Ferrari, Giulio
Ferrari, and Ralph Hempel
