Degree Project in Technology

First cycle, 15 credits

Automatic wire bender machine

KLAS BIRKESTÅL
SIMON SPÅNG

Stockholm, Sweden, 2022

Automatic wire bender machine

KLAS BIRKESTÅL
SIMON SPÅNG

Degree Programme in Mechanical Engineering

Date: May 22, 2022

Supervisor: Andreas Cronhjort

Examiner: Martin Edin Grimheden
School of Industrial Engineering and Management
Swedish title: Trådbockningsmaskin

TRITA-ITM-EX- 2022:92
© 2022 Klas Birkestål and Simon Spång
 Abstract | i

Abstract
One of the most fundamental manufacturing processes is the simple bending
of rods and wire. Although a simple process, when performed manually
it can become a burdensome and repetitive workload with scattered results.
Automation today has allowed these kind of processes to be automated,
although the machines can be complicated to program.
This report contains the construction and result of a machine capable of
feeding, bending in three dimensions and cutting steel wires with diameters
up to 1 mm. Furthermore the functions of the machine are managed with a
handheld controller where the operator has the ability to control and record
objects to be produced. The projects resulted in a wire bender that fulfills the
goals of the project. It was noticed that some large error in angles occurred
between the original model and the copies of it. Therefore the repeatability is
quite poor while the precision in the copies is considerably better.

Keywords
Cold processing, 3D shaping, bending, mechatronics
ii | Sammanfattning

Sammanfattning
En av de mest fundamentala tillverkningsmetoderna är bockning av stänger
och tråd. Även om det är en simpel process blir det ett betungande och repetitivt
arbete om det utförs manuellt med spridda resultat. Automation idag tillåter
dessa typer av processer att blir automatiserade, dock kan maskinerna vara
komplicerade att programmera.
Denna rapport behandlar konstruktion och resultat av en maskin kapabel
till att mata fram, bocka i tre dimensioner samt kapa ståltråd med en diameter
upp till 1 mm. Maskinens funktioner styrs med en handkontroll. Med den
kan operatören även spela in former för att sedan ha möjligheten tillåta
maskinen reproducera dessa. Projektet resulterade i en trådbockare som
uppfyller de mål som satts upp för projektet. Det noterades att det existerade
fel i bockningsvinklarna mellan orginalmodellen och dess kopior. Därav kan
repeterbarheten sägas vara dålig medan precisionen i kopiorna var betydligt
bättre.

Nyckelord
Kallbearbetning, 3D formning, bockning, mekatronik
 Acknowledgments | iii

Acknowledgments
We would like to thank our supervisor Andreas Cronhjort for his continuous
support throughout the project. We would also like to thank the lab assistants
Algot Lindestam and Tore Malmström. Finally we want to extend our
gratidude to our fellow MF133X students for their feedback and inspiring
work.

Stockholm, May 2022

Klas Birkestål Simon Spång
iv | Acknowledgments
 Contents | v

Contents

1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.3 Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.4 Research Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.5 Delimitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 Background 5
2.1 Actuators and control systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.1 Servo motor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.2 Stepper motor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.3 Microcontroller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2 Shaping Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2.1 Bending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2.2 Springback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2.3 Effects of bending on metal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.3 Related work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.3.1 Bending machine from YouTube . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.3.2 Process-oriented Approach to an efficient Off-line
Programming of Industrial Robots . . . . . . . . . . . 8

3 Implementation 9
3.1 Usage of related work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.2 Testing and measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.3 Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.3.1 Fastening of wire bobbin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.3.2 Feeder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.3.3 Bender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.3.4 Cutter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
vi | Contents

3.3.5 Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.4 Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.4.1 Control module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.4.2 Stepper motor module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.4.3 DC motor module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.4.4 Power supply module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.4.5 Handheld controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.5 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

4 Results 17
4.1 Machinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.2 Bending test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.3 Programming test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

5 Discussion 21
5.1 Bending test analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.2 Programming method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
5.3 Reliability of the prototype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

6 Conclusions and Future work 23

6.1 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
6.2 Future work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

References 25

A Power supply module circuit diagram 27

B Control module circuit diagram 28

C DC motor module circuit diagram 29

D Stepper motor module circuit diagram 30

E Controller circuit diagram 31

F ATmega328P maximum ratings 34

G L7805 Data sheet 36

H HC148N Data sheet 39

I Measurements data 42
 Contents | vii

J Code 44
viii | Contents
 List of Figures | ix

List of Figures

1.1 Illustration of the used method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2.1 Working principle of a folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3.1 Test model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.2 General design of the machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.3 Connection scheme for modules and actuators . . . . . . . . . 13
3.4 Flowchart of function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

4.1 The final construction of the machinery . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

4.2 Scatter plot of angles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.3 The handheld controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

A.1 Power supply module circuit diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

B.1 Control module circuit diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

C.1 DC motor module circuit diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

D.1 Stepper motor module circuit diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

E.1 Controller module circuit diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

I.1 Measured data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

I.2 Error data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
x | List of Figures
 List of Tables | xi

List of Tables

4.1 Results of bending and cutting test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

xii | List of Tables
 List of acronyms and abbreviations | xiii

List of acronyms and abbreviations

CPU Central Processing Unit

DC Direct Current

I/O Input/Output

MCU Microcontroller Unit

xiv | List of acronyms and abbreviations
 Introduction | 1

Chapter 1

Introduction

Cold processing of metals has been an essential part of civilization for a

long time. Many different processes exists but perhaps one of the most
fundamental ones are the simple bending of rods and wires. Although simple,
this task performed manually can result in parts not up to standards and also a
burdensome and repetitive workload for the individual. With advances within
the field of mechatronics such task has been allowed to be automated, greatly
reducing the effect of the problems mentioned before.

1.1 Background
Lots of automated manufacturing processes can be improved upon, both
related to the efficiency of the process and the simplicity of programming
the machine. The latter would, for instance, allow less specialized personnel
to operate the machinery and reduce the time it takes to change the machine
according to demands.

1.2 Problem
This project aims to achieve a machine with high repeatability as well as being
simple to program. Thus answering the following questions:

• How can a fully automated wire bending machine be constructed?

• What repeatability can be achieved in the bendings created by the

constructed machinery?

• How can programming of an automated bending machine be simplified?

2 | Introduction

1.3 Goals
To achieve the desired functionality of the machine the following goals has
been defined:

1. Shaping and bending of wire in three dimensions

2. Automatic cutting of wire

3. User friendly interface

1.4 Research Methodology

A prototype of the machine will be built in steps, starting with the most
fundamental parts such as feeding and bending of the wire. Most of the
mechanical components will be 3D printed. When the mechanical parts are in
place the electronics will be integrated into each subsystem and all subsystems
will be connected to a microcontroller. Every subsystem will be evaluated and
eventual improvements to it will be applied. When all subsystems perform
as intended the microcontroller will be programmed to achieve the desired
functions off the machine. Finally tests will be performed to see if the goals
have been reached.
The reason why this methodology has been chosen is because of the
possibility to see how the subsystems affect each other in different stages of
the development and ensure the functionality of the machine. An illustration
of the methodology can be seen in figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1: Illustration of the used method

 Introduction | 3

1.5 Delimitations
The diameter of the wire the machine can handle has been limited to 1 mm
due to availability of motors that can handle high torque within the budget and
safety concerns. The budget had a limit of 500 SEK. The process time of the
machine will not be evaluated.
The machine aims to have a high level of automation but there are some
constraints in place. Replacing empty spools of wire or any jam needs to be
dealt with manually.
4 | Introduction
 Background | 5

Chapter 2

Background

The following sections will present relevant information about electronics and
underlying theory.

2.1 Actuators and control systems

To control a machine some kind of actuators and control systems are needed.
The following segment will discuss relevant actuators and control systems for
the project.

2.1.1 Servo motor

A servo system consists of several components that together monitor the
systems actual values and compares it to the desired values. By comparing
these two values corrections can be made to minimize the difference. In
the case of a servo motor the value that is being monitored is the angle of
the motor shaft. Most lower end servos directed towards hobbyists do not
actually provide feedback. The servo motor is controlled by sending pulses
with varying width within the motors pulse width range. A pulse width in
the upper section of the pulse width range will set the motor in the full right
position and similarly a pulse width in the lower section will set the motor in
the full left position.[1]

2.1.2 Stepper motor

The main purpose of a stepper motor is to rotate to a precise angle and stop.
The motor achieves this by moving in steps. Common steps angles include
6 | Background

5°, 2.5° and 1.8°. Stepper motors also have a holding torque which is the
maximum torque it can exert to maintain its position. Depending on how
the wires are connected to the motors windings a stepper motor can either be
bipolar or unipolar. Generally speaking, unipolar stepper motors are easier to
control but only half of the electromagnet is used when the motor is powered.
Therefore is a unipolar stepper motor not as efficient as a bipolar stepper motor.
[1]

2.1.3 Microcontroller
A Microcontroller Unit (MCU) is a system consisting of several interconnected
devices. These devices generally include a Central Processing Unit (CPU)
with associated memory devices, Input/Output (I/O) ports and several other
peripheral devices all integrated in a single semiconductor chip. This allows
the MCU to be programmed by an external device to perform a specific task.
[2]

2.2 Shaping Process

Bending is the process that is used to plastically deform material to achieve
a desired geometry. The bending can be performed as a hot or cold shaping
method which will have different impacts on the material.

2.2.1 Bending
The principle of bending is to apply a force perpendicular to the surface of an
element. When bending the element it will stretch on its outside while it will
be compressed on its inside. Therefore there is a limitation in bending radius
which is dependent on material and thickness of the material. [3] Today there
exists several methods for the bending process. Many of their purposes are to
bend sheet metal but some methods can also be used to bend rods and wires.
The most common machine type for bending of rods and wires is called folder
or bending brake which working principle is shown in the figure 2.1.[4]
A folder consists of three important components. The upper beam, the
lower beam and the bending beam. These are displayed as 2, 3 and 4 in figure
2.1. The upper and lower beams are holding the workpiece, displayed as 1,
while the bending beam has a circular motion around the center displayed as
5. This motion accomplishes the bending.[4]
 Background | 7

Figure 2.1: Working principle of a folder

2.2.2 Springback
When bending metals, springback occurs due to the plastic-elastic behavior
of the material itself. The elastic affect arises when unloading after shaping
and will make the finished shape different from the desired if no springback
compensation is used.
There are several factors that affect the springback. For example,
increasing tension of the material that will be bent or having a higher tool-
to-material thickness ratio will reduce the springback effect.[5]
Another factor that affect the springback is the radius of the bends. Bends
with larger radiuses will be more affected by springback compared to bends
with smaller bending radiuses. [6]

2.2.3 Effects of bending on metal

Since metals has a crystal structure that contains dislocations, these
dislocations will move within the crystal lattice when force is applied during
the bending process which will result in plastic deformation. Cold work is
implemented within temperatures below 30-40 % of the melting temperature.
During cold work of the metal the internal stress will rise within the grade
of deformation due to strain-hardening. This in a phenomena where the
dislocations interfere with each other and act as obstacles and complicates
further movement. [7]
8 | Background

2.3 Related work

There are already work made within this field. Inspiration to the machine was
found in the following sources.

2.3.1 Bending machine from YouTube

This YouTube video made by How to M echatronics showed and explained
the working principles of a homemade wire bender. This machine contained
examples of how the feeder could be built, the bender itself and the rotation of
the bender to make it possible to bend in both vertical and horizontal direction.
[8]

2.3.2 Process-oriented Approach to an efficient Off-

line Programming of Industrial Robots
E. Freund et al discusses the difficulties programming industrial robots
without manual, teach-in like work by the programmer. Even with simulation
programs it may require time consuming work to iterativly improve the robots
performance. A worker-oriented solution would allow a worker to perform a
process while an underlying software records it. Afterwards the process can
be adapted again with respect to the used system. [9]
 Implementation | 9

Chapter 3

Implementation

This chapter describes the ideas and components that were used to build and
test the wire bender.

3.1 Usage of related work

The machine was constructed by using some of the solutions presented in 2.3.
Specifically the feeding apparatus and the rotating tool device was used as in
How to M echatronics Youtube video.
More importantly the machine described in this report aimed to further
expand the functionality by adding a device to cut the wire. To facilitate
programming of the machine the ideas of an worker-oriented solution was used
as discussed in 2.3.2.

3.2 Testing and measurement

To test the achieved repeatability in the bendings, a test model consisting of
three straight lines and two bendings was created. See figure 3.1. The bendings
are perpendicular, both to the straight lines and to each other. The model was
created manually in the machine while being recorded, and then the machine
was allowed to repeat the process. For further information how this functions,
see section 3.4.5. The length of each straight line was measured with a caliper
and the angle of the bends were measured with a protractor and compared to
the original model.
To test the simplicity in programming, people with no programming
background and people with a programming background were asked to
10 | Implementation

Figure 3.1: Test model

program the same test model as in figure 3.1 with a handheld controller. For
information about the controller see section 3.4.5.
 Implementation | 11

3.3 Hardware
The main construction idea was to create subsystems that fills the requirements
of a specific task and then join these subsystems together on a frame. The
general design idea can be seen in figure 3.2. 1 in the figure is the feeding
device which feeds wire along the x-axis. 2 in the figure is the device which
allows rotation of the tool device around the x-axis, as indicated by the red
arrows. The tool device consists of 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 in the figure. 3.1 is a servo
which allows linear movement of the Direct Current (DC)-motor 3.2 into the
centre. This allows cutting of the wire. Finally 3.3 is the bending motor which
rotates around the Z-axle, as shown by the blue arrow. This allows bending of
the wire. The coming chapters describes how each subsystem were built and
implemented in the model.

Figure 3.2: General design of the machine

3.3.1 Fastening of wire bobbin

The wire that was used was spooled on a bobbin. The bobbin was fastened
on an axle that was placed in ball bearings to minimize the impact of friction
forces. The bearings were inserted in 3D-printed bearing housings that were
placed on the frame.
12 | Implementation

3.3.2 Feeder
The feeder’s main purpose was to transfer the wire from the bobbin forward
to the bender. It consisted of a stepper motor with a drive wheel and a spring-
loaded ball bearing that made sure the wire were put in the desired position.
The mountings were 3D-printed.

3.3.3 Bender
The bender consisted of a stepper motor mounted close to the end of the nozzle.
On the stepper motor’s axis a tool was mounted to be able to deform the steel
wire in the desired direction. The tool consisted of a steel rod attached to an
3D-printed holder connected to the stepper motor.

3.3.4 Cutter
To accomplish the cutting of the steel wire a DC-motor equipped with a cutting
disc was used. The disc was mounted on a modified M3 screw and was held
in place with two nuts, one for keeping the disc in position and the other one
to lock the first nut. The M3 screw was consecutively mounted on the motor’s
axis.
The motor required the possibility to move to avoid colliding with the
wire or the bender. Therefore it was placed on a rack and slide rail which
made it possible to transfer it sideways. The motion sideways was created
by implementing a servo motor with a gear mounted to it. Together with the
bender these form the tool device.

3.3.5 Rotation
As described under goals the possibility to shape the wire in three dimensions
was desired. This was performed by mounting the tool device on a brass tube.
The tube was placed in two ball bearings. By implementing a stepper motor
and a gearbox with primary gear on the stepper motor and the secondary
gear mounted on the brass tube the rotation of the tool device was achieved
and therefore the possibility to bend horizontal, vertical and all the angles in
between. When using the feeder as a complement there is a possibility to shape
the wire in three dimensions.
 Implementation | 13

3.4 Electronics
In the following chapter the electronics implemented will be presented.
Generally, electronics have been made in modules and then interconnected to
achieve the desired function. Every module have been soldered by hand and
designed in the program KiCad. Relevant circuit diagrams for each module
can be found in appendix A through D. An overview how the modules are
connected can be seen in figure 3.3

Figure 3.3: Connection scheme for modules and actuators

3.4.1 Control module

The control module is the part of the system which allows it to be programmed.
The module is based on an Arduino UNO which is a microcontroller based on
the chip ATMega328P. Additionally to the Arduino board an etched circuit
board with 20 LEDs in parallel to the ports and screw terminals were attached
to the Arduino. The LEDs will light up when the ports of the Arduino are
either used as inputs or outputs. This does not affect the functionality of the
module but allows for easier troubleshooting of the system.
14 | Implementation

3.4.2 Stepper motor module

The module responsible for driving the stepper motors in the system contains
two DRV8825 and one A4998 stepper motor driver. Each of the drivers inputs
are connected to screw terminals and the outputs are connected to headers.
Finally, the headers are connected to the stepper motors. Thus allowing both
speed, position and direction control of the stepper motors from the control
module. This module also requires two voltages, one 5 V for controlling the
internal logic and voltage driving the motors which must be in the range of 8
V to 35 V.

3.4.3 DC motor module

The DC motor is controlled with a N-channel MOSFET transistor. When a
voltage is applied to the MOSFETs base it will allow a larger current to flow
from the drain to source. The voltage to the MOSFET base is controlled by an
optocoupler in an attempt to electrically insulate the DC-motor from the rest of
the system. To counteract the induced voltage that occurs when the transistor
is shut off a freewheel diode has been connected across the motors terminals
with reversed polarity.

3.4.4 Power supply module

To power the rest of the system the power supply module has two outputs, one
primary voltage in the range of 5 V to 32 V and a secondary voltage of 5 V.
The 5 V comes from a L7805 linear voltage regulator. As seen in appendix
G L7805 has a maximum output current of 1.5 A. Therefore the 5 V output
has a 1 A fuse to protect it from damages. The main voltage is protected from
reverse polarity. This is achieved by connecting a P-channel MOSFETs base
directly to ground. Then if the polarity of the power is connected reversed a
positive voltage will be applied to the base and no current will flow through
the transistor. If the polarity is correct then a low voltage will be applied to
the base and current will be allowed to flow.

3.4.5 Handheld controller

To simplify the programming of the machinery, a handheld controller was
implemented. With the controller it is possible to control all of the subsystems
manually. The idea behind the controller was to make it possible to produce a
single workpiece and also have the possibility to record the sequences of the
 Implementation | 15

subsystems and then reproduce several copies of it. The controller consists
of two levers and three buttons. The levers controls the rotations of the tool
device and the bender itself in both directions. The three buttons controls
the feeding, cutting and recording of the processes. To minimize the required
wires between the controller and control module the controller has an 8 to 3
encoder inside of it. This results in 2 power supply wires and 3 signal wires
instead of 7 signal wires that would have been required otherwise. Simply, the
controller outputs a binary number between 000 and 111 depending on what
button is being pressed. Although the 8 to 3 encoder requires an inverted input,
thus two hex inverters were used. Datasheet for the encoder can be found in
appendix H and a complete circuit diagram of the controller can be found in
appendix E.

3.5 Software
To be able to regulate the bender, the Arduino Uno was programmed through
Arduino IDE. With the controller as an input, the function of the machinery can
be described as the flowchart in figure 3.4 and the source code can be found
in appendix J . The program begins with a reset of the position for the tool
device. This is done by reading the signals of several micro switches mounted
on the gear and tool device. When done, the machine will wait for a signal
from the controller.
If the record button has not been activated, the actions will be performed
without being recorded. When the record button is activated, the actions will
be executed and recorded. The recording is accomplished by saving the value
of the specific action in a list, and if needed, the duration of it, in another list.
When the recording is finished and the button to stop the recording is
activated the position will be restored and the replay of the sequence will
begin. The replay is a loop between reading the saved values in the lists and
executing them. If the stop button is pressed during replay it will finish the
initiated sequence and then wait for a new input from the controller.
16 | Implementation

Figure 3.4: Flowchart of function

 Results | 17

Chapter 4

Results

In this chapter, the results from the construction and the tests will be presented.
For an analysis and evaluation of the results, see chapter 5.

4.1 Machinery
The work presented in chapter 3 resulted in a machine able to bend a steel wire
of 1 mm in 3 dimensions. The machine is also able to cut the wire and can be
programmed using a handheld controller. Thus achieving the goals presented
in 1.3. The final assembly of the machinery can be seen in figure 4.1

Figure 4.1: The final construction of the machinery

18 | Results

4.2 Bending test

As described in section 3.2 the machine was tested by shaping a given form and
then comparing it to the original model. All the processes were done by the
machine, bending, feeding and cutting of the wire. The machine was allowed
to make 20 pieces, all the measurement data can be found in appendix I. The
standard deviation and average of all the measured quantities are presented in
table 4.1.

L1 [mm] L2 [mm] L3 [mm] α[°] β[°] γ[°]

Original model 23,3 22,6 21,6 96 98 89
Standard deviation 2,35 1,48 2,95 1,93 2,3 9,01
Average 23,6 22,4 22,8 83 82,6 111,4
Difference 0,3 -0,2 1,2 -13 15,4 22,4
Table 4.1: Results of bending and cutting test

In figure 4.2 a scatter plot of the measured angles can be seen. The dots
represents the measured angles of the copies and the dot with a red circle
around it represents the measured angles of the original model.
 Results | 19

Figure 4.2: Scatter plot of angles

4.3 Programming test

Three people, in the age range of 20 to 25 tested to program the machine using
the handheld controller, displayed in figure 4.3.
20 | Results

Figure 4.3: The handheld controller

Two of the test subjects had a technical background while one had no
technical background. All three were able to produce the test piece by
themselves after a brief instruction.
 Discussion | 21

Chapter 5

Discussion

In this chapter the results of the project will be discussed and analysed.

5.1 Bending test analysis

As shown in chapter 4 the results of the bending test had significant differences
in all the angles and in the lengths L1 and L3 compared to the original
model. Figure 4.2 also shows that the deviation in angles between the copies
is relatively small. The causes of the big difference in the mean value of angle
α and β compared to the original is unknown since the stepper motor that is
used to make the bends should rotate exactly the same amount of steps as in
the original model. Possible cause could be that the record function of the
machinery is at fault. An initial positional error when the first model recorded
could also be a source of error. The standard deviation shows that the deviation
is at a reasonable level in these bendings. These statistics shows although
that the machine produces copies with poor accuracy but it has fairly good
precision in these two bends.
The standard deviation and the difference between angle γ of the original
model and the mean value of angle γ measured in the copies are relatively large
compared to the other angles. Possible causes of the large standard deviation
could be that the wire rotates freely which makes small impacts from other
subsystems noticeable in the bending, since this bending is created by rotating
the tool device.
Despite these errors the machinery managed to produce our bends in 3
dimensions as planned.
22 | Discussion

5.2 Programming method

The initial test that were conducted to evaluate the programming method
showed promising results. The test was done by a small sample size so any real
conclusions are hard to draw. Although the programming method seems to be
somewhat intuitive it lacks precision. All users found it difficult to bend an
exact angle, this might be easier to do when writing lines of code the traditional
way to the machine.

5.3 Reliability of the prototype

During continuous work the machine tended to get hot, specifically the stepper
motor bending the wire and its driver developed significant heat. This did not
seem to affect the bending or cutting process, although the heat does affect the
plastic surrounding it by bending and warping it.
There were also some issues with the stepper motors, as they sometimes
started to vibrate when the DC-motor for cutting the wire was started. It was
believed this was due to some kind of interference in the signal wires to the
stepper motor drivers. Capacitors were added across the poles of the DC-
motor but to no effect. Therefore an optocoupler was used to try to electrically
insulate the DC-motor from the rest of the system. The DC-motor also had
a separate power source. This did work to some extent, but the problem
reappeared seemingly at random. It might be an electromagnetic phenomenon
where the spikes in current when the DC motor starts induces voltage in nearby
signal wires.
Test did show that when the stepper motors ran at higher speeds they were
prone to errors. The stepper motors used in this project did not have any kind
of positional feedback. Implementation of such feedback could both increase
the accuracy of the machine and allow it to run faster.
It could be observed that the most time intensive operation is the cutting of
the wire. This is exaggerated by the fact the DC-motor used does not have the
capacity to cut the wire in one cycle. The motor must do three cuts to ensure
that the wire is fully cut. It would probably also be faster to manually cut the
wire although the machine would no longer be able to work independently
after being programmed.
 Conclusions and Future work | 23

Chapter 6

Conclusions and Future work

6.1 Conclusions
Concluding the project described in this report, the following conclusions can
be drawn:

• A wire bending machine can be constructed by using 3 stepper motors

and other various components. To fully automate it, cutting of the wire
is needed. This can be done by using a DC-motor with a cutting disc.

• A handheld controller as a programming method for a wire bending

machine shows promising results as an intuitive programming method.
It can however, be difficult to achieve precise angles and lengths using
this method.

• The repeatability of such a machine is quite poor while the precision of

the copies is quite good.

6.2 Future work

As previously mentioned in chapter 5 Discussion, an implementation of some
kind of positional feedback of the stepper motor would both increase speed
and reliability of the machine. Furthermore to increase the reliability of the
machine a proper investigation of the disturbance that affect the stepper motors
would be needed.
The cutting of the wire could also be improved upon, this could be done by
using a motor with higher torque to allow faster cutting or investigate if some
kind of cutting method is more suitable.
24 | Conclusions and Future work
 References | 25

References

[1] Scarpino, Motors for Makers: A Guide to Steppers, Servos, and Other
Electrical Machines. Indianapolis, USA: Que, 2015. ISBN 978-0-134-
03283-2 [Pages 5 and 6.]

[2] Y. Bay, Practical Microcontroller Engineering with ARM(1st ed.).

Piscataway: Newark: Wiley, 2015. ISBN 978-1-119-05839-7 [Page 6.]

[3] A. Jarfors, T. Carlsson, A. Eliasson, H. Keife, C. M. Nicoles,

B. Rundqvist, M. Bejhem, and B. Sandberg, Tillverkningsteknologi.
Lund: Studentlitteratur AB, 2010. ISBN 978-91-44-07039-1 [Page 6.]

[4] H. Tschaetsch, Metal Forming Practise. Dresden: Springer-Verlag Berlin

Heidelberg, 2006. ISBN 978-3-540-33216-9 [Page 6.]

[5] W. Carden, L. Geng, D. Matlock, and R. Wagoner, “Measurement of

springback,” International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, vol. 44, no. 1,
pp. 79–101, 2002. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0020-7403(01)00082-0.
[Online]. Available: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/
S0020740301000820 [Page 7.]

[6] J. Kruger and A. Palazotto, “An investigation of springback in wire

products,” 1972. [Page 7.]

[7] J. Anderson, K. Leaver, R. Rawlings, and J. Alexander, Material Science,

Fourth edition. Singapore: Chapman and Hall, 1990. ISBN 978-0-412-
34150-2 [Page 7.]

[8] “Arduino 3d wire bending machine,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=HPQbKTJPsU4, 2018, accessed: 2022-04-14. [Page 8.]

[9] E. Freund, D. Rokossa, and J. Rossmann, “Process-oriented approach

to an efficient off-line programming of industrial robots,” in IECON
26 | References

’98. Proceedings of the 24th Annual Conference of the IEEE In-

dustrial Electronics Society (Cat. No.98CH36200), vol. 1, 1998. doi:
10.1109/IECON.1998.723992 pp. 208–213 vol.1. [Page 8.]
 Power supply module circuit diagram | 27

Appendix A

Power supply module circuit

diagram

Figure A.1: Power supply module circuit diagram

28 | Control module circuit diagram

Appendix B

Control module circuit diagram

Figure B.1: Control module circuit diagram

 DC motor module circuit diagram | 29

Appendix C

DC motor module circuit dia-

gram

Figure C.1: DC motor module circuit diagram

30 | Stepper motor module circuit diagram

Appendix D

Stepper motor module circuit

diagram

Figure D.1: Stepper motor module circuit diagram

Controller circuit diagram | 31
32 | Controller circuit diagram

Appendix E

Controller circuit diagram

Figure E.1: Controller module circuit diagram

Controller circuit diagram | 33
34 | ATmega328P maximum ratings
 ATmega328P maximum ratings | 35

Appendix F

ATmega328P maximum ratings

ATmega48PA/88PA/168PA/328P

28. Electrical Characteristics

28.1 Absolute Maximum Ratings*

Operating Temperature.................................. -55°C to +125°C *NOTICE: Stresses beyond those listed under “Absolute
Maximum Ratings” may cause permanent dam-
Storage Temperature ..................................... -65°C to +150°C age to the device. This is a stress rating only and
functional operation of the device at these or
Voltage on any Pin except RESET other conditions beyond those indicated in the
with respect to Ground ................................-0.5V to VCC+0.5V operational sections of this specification is not
implied. Exposure to absolute maximum rating
Voltage on RESET with respect to Ground......-0.5V to +13.0V conditions for extended periods may affect
device reliability.
Maximum Operating Voltage ............................................ 6.0V

DC Current per I/O Pin ............................................... 40.0 mA

DC Current VCC and GND Pins................................ 200.0 mA

28.2 DC Characteristics

TA = -40°C to 85°C, VCC = 1.8V to 5.5V (unless otherwise noted)

Symbol Parameter Condition Min. Typ. Max. Units
Input Low Voltage, except VCC = 1.8V - 2.4V -0.5 0.2VCC(1)
VIL V
XTAL1 and RESET pin VCC = 2.4V - 5.5V -0.5 0.3VCC(1)
Input High Voltage, except VCC = 1.8V - 2.4V 0.7VCC(2) VCC + 0.5
VIH V
XTAL1 and RESET pins VCC = 2.4V - 5.5V 0.6VCC(2) VCC + 0.5
Input Low Voltage, (1)
VIL1 VCC = 1.8V - 5.5V -0.5 0.1VCC V
XTAL1 pin
Input High Voltage, VCC = 1.8V - 2.4V 0.8VCC(2) VCC + 0.5
VIH1 V
XTAL1 pin VCC = 2.4V - 5.5V 0.7VCC(2) VCC + 0.5
Input Low Voltage, (1)
VIL2 VCC = 1.8V - 5.5V -0.5 0.1VCC V
RESET pin
Input High Voltage,
VIH2 VCC = 1.8V - 5.5V 0.9VCC(2) VCC + 0.5 V
RESET pin
Input Low Voltage, VCC = 1.8V - 2.4V -0.5 0.2VCC(1)
VIL3 V
RESET pin as I/O VCC = 2.4V - 5.5V -0.5 0.3VCC(1)
Input High Voltage, VCC = 1.8V - 2.4V 0.7VCC(2) VCC + 0.5
VIH3 V
RESET pin as I/O VCC = 2.4V - 5.5V 0.6VCC(2) VCC + 0.5
(3)
Output Low Voltage IOL = 20 mA, VCC = 5V 0.9
VOL V
except RESET pin IOL = 10 mA, VCC = 3V 0.6
(4)
Output High Voltage IOH = -20 mA, VCC = 5V 4.2
VOH V
except Reset pin IOH = -10 mA, VCC = 3V 2.3

Input Leakage VCC = 5.5V, pin low

IIL 1 µA
Current I/O Pin (absolute value)
Input Leakage VCC = 5.5V, pin high
IIH 1 µA
Current I/O Pin (absolute value)

313
8161C–AVR–05/09
36 | L7805 Data sheet
 L7805 Data sheet | 37

Appendix G

L7805 Data sheet

L78xx - L78xxC
L78xxAB - L78xxAC

Positive voltage regulators

Features
■ Output current up to 1.5 A
■ Output voltages of 5; 6; 8; 8.5; 9; 12; 15; 18; 24
V
■ Thermal overload protection
■ Short circuit protection
■ Output transition SOA protection TO-220 TO-220FP
■ 2 % output voltage tolerance (A version)
■ Guaranteed in extended temperature range (A
version)

Description
The L78xx series of three-terminal positive TO-3 DPAK D²PAK
regulators is available in TO-220, TO-220FP, TO-
3, D²PAK and DPAK packages and several fixed
output voltages, making it useful in a wide range
of applications. These regulators can provide
local on-card regulation, eliminating the
distribution problems associated with single point
regulation. Each type employs internal current
limiting, thermal shut-down and safe area
protection, making it essentially indestructible. If
adequate heat sinking is provided, they can
deliver over 1 A output current. Although designed
primarily as fixed voltage regulators, these
devices can be used with external components to
obtain adjustable voltage and currents.

Table 1. Device summary

Part numbers

L7805 L7806AC L7809AB L7815AB

L7805C L7808C L7809AC L7815AC
L7805AB L7808AB L7812C L7818C
L7805AC L7808AC L7812AB L7824C
L7806C L7885C L7812AC L7824AB
L7806AB L7809C L7815C L7824AC

November 2010 Doc ID 2143 Rev 23 1/56

www.st.com 56
38 | L7805 Data sheet

L78xx, L78xxC, L78xxAB, L78xxAC Maximum ratings

3 Maximum ratings

Table 2. Absolute maximum ratings

Symbol Parameter Value Unit

for VO= 5 to 18 V 35
VI DC input voltage V
for VO= 20, 24 V 40
IO Output current Internally limited
PD Power dissipation Internally limited
TSTG Storage temperature range -65 to 150 °C
for L78xx -55 to 150
TOP Operating junction temperature range for L78xxC, L78xxAC 0 to 125 °C
for L78xxAB -40 to 125

Note: Absolute maximum ratings are those values beyond which damage to the device may occur.
Functional operation under these condition is not implied.

Table 3. Thermal data

Symbol Parameter D²PAK DPAK TO-220 TO-220FP TO-3 Unit

RthJC Thermal resistance junction-case 3 8 5 5 4 °C/W

RthJA Thermal resistance junction-ambient 62.5 100 50 60 35 °C/W

Figure 4. Application circuits

Doc ID 2143 Rev 23 7/56

HC148N Data sheet | 39
40 | HC148N Data sheet

Appendix H

HC148N Data sheet


 
        

SCLS109G − MARCH 1984 − REVISED APRIL 2004

D Wide Operating Voltage Range of 2 V to 6 V SN54HC148 . . . J OR W PACKAGE

SN74HC148 . . . D, DW, N, OR NS PACKAGE
D Outputs Can Drive Up To 10 LSTTL Loads (TOP VIEW)
D Low Power Consumption, 80-µA Max ICC
D Typical tpd = 16 ns 4 1 16 VCC
5 EO
D ±4-mA Output Drive at 5 V 2 15
6 3 14 GS
D Low Input Current of 1 µA Max 7 4 13 3
D Encode Eight Data Lines to 3-Line Binary EI 5 12 2
(Octal) A2 6 11 1
D Applications Include: A1 7 10 0
− n-Bit Encoding GND 8 9 A0
− Code Converters and Generators
SN54HC148 . . . FK PACKAGE
description/ordering information (TOP VIEW)
VCC

The ’HC148 devices feature priority decoding of

NC

EO
5
4

the inputs to ensure that only the highest-order

data line is encoded. These devices encode eight 3 2 1 20 19
data lines to 3-line (4-2-1) binary (octal). 6 4 18 GS
Cascading circuitry (enable input EI and enable 7 5 17 3
output EO) has been provided to allow octal NC 6 16 NC
expansion without the need for external circuitry. EI 7 15 2
Data inputs and outputs are active at the low logic A2 8 14 1
9 10 11 12 13
level.
A1

A0
0
GND
NC

NC − No internal connection

ORDERING INFORMATION
ORDERABLE TOP-SIDE
TA PACKAGE†
PART NUMBER MARKING
PDIP − N Tube of 25 SN74HC148N SN74HC148N
Tube of 40 SN74HC148D
SOIC − D Reel of 2500 SN74HC148DR HC148
−40°C to 85°C
Reel of 250 SN74HC148DT
SOIC − DW Reel of 2000 SN74HC148DWR HC148
SOP − NS Reel of 2000 SN74HC148NSR HC148
CDIP − J Tube of 25 SNJ54HC148J SNJ54HC148J
−55°C
−55 125°C
C to 125 C CFP − W Tube of 150 SNJ54HC148W SNJ54HC148W
LCCC − FK Tube of 55 SNJ54HC148FK SNJ54HC148FK
† Package drawings, standard packing quantities, thermal data, symbolization, and PCB design guidelines are
available at www.ti.com/sc/package.

Please be aware that an important notice concerning availability, standard warranty, and use in critical applications of
Texas Instruments semiconductor products and disclaimers thereto appears at the end of this data sheet.

    ! "#$ !  %#&'" ($) Copyright  2004, Texas Instruments Incorporated
(#"! "  !%$""! %$ *$ $!  $+! !#$!  %(#"! "%'  / 0  '' %$$! $ $!$(
!(( ,-) (#" %"$!!. ($!  $"$!!'- "'#($ #'$!! *$,!$ $()  '' *$ %(#"! %(#"
$!.  '' %$$!) %"$!!. ($!  $"$!!'- "'#($ $!.  '' %$$!)

POST OFFICE BOX 655303 • DALLAS, TEXAS 75265 1

 HC148N Data sheet | 41


 
        

SCLS109G − MARCH 1984 − REVISED APRIL 2004

FUNCTION TABLE
INPUTS OUTPUTS
EI 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 A2 A1 A0 GS EO
H X X X X X X X X H H H H H
L H H H H H H H H H H H H L
L X X X X X X X L L L L L H
L X X X X X X L H L L H L H
L X X X X X L H H L H L L H
L X X X X L H H H L H H L H
L X X X L H H H H H L L L H
L X X L H H H H H H L H L H
L X L H H H H H H H H L L H
L L H H H H H H H H H H L H

2 POST OFFICE BOX 655303 • DALLAS, TEXAS 75265

42 | Measurements data

Appendix I

Measurements data

Figure I.1: Measured data

 Measurements data | 43

Figure I.2: Error data

44 | Code
 Code | 45

Appendix J

Code
46 | Code
Code | 47
48 | Code
Code | 49
50 | Code
Code | 51
52 | Code
Code | 53
54 | Code
Code | 55
56 | Code
TRITA-ITM-EX- 2022:92

www.kth.se