Analysis of a planar manipulator operated by impulsion forces

Abstract

For industrial automation it is often necessary to sort a large number of objects in a certain order for a subsequent step ofprocess._ Today, this is made by combining several pick and place robots, which move the objects to their desired destination one at a time. For a large number of objects per unit of time, this solution may become impractical because the individual robots may interfere with each other and the accelerations caused may be too high. This paper describes the principle of operation of a vibratory manipulator that produces impulsion force vector fields generated by longitudinal and transverse oscillations about a horizontal plane, which allow both movements of transport and orientation of parts. The manipulator has a rigid moving plate on which the object to move is placed. Then, forces on the moving plate are induced by longitudinal mechanical vibrations with asymmetric velocity profiles. Eight electromagnetic actuators that, in conjunction with flexible couplings, transmit longitudinal oscillations to the moving plate generate these velocity profiles. The amplitude of motion for each actuator is programmed by the user depending on the trajectory that the piece shall follow.