Vacuum Mount Assembly
As part of the Unloading Robot team at Contoro, one of my tasks consisted of designing and mounting the vacuum system.
This assembly provides vacuum suction for our end effector to grip boxes.
Initial Designs
The vacuum system was initially designed to mount to the wall of the chassis. However, after some analyses on deformation and stress, we determined that the system would not be stable.
Securing Brackets
The next piece of the mounting design were the brackets. These brackets were designed to interface with the circular piping and bolt into the pem nuts in the mount in order to better secure the assembly
Mounting to Chassis
The first step was to design a mount that would be able to house the vacuum assembly as well as mount to the chassis. This piece was designed under the spatial constraints of the chassis, as well as placed to use mounting holes on the bottom to secure it to the chassis. The part was also designed out of a thick aluminum as a sheet metal part to add rigidity.
In addition, pem nuts were welded into the underside and wall of the mount as foresight for the brackets to screw in.
Changing Material
After analysis using FEA, as well as calculating the stress and deformation on the brackets, I realized that aluminum would deform a little too much for our comfort and switched to steel for a higher yield stress, and much lower deformation.
Incorporating into the Chassis
These pieces were both designed as sheet metal parts. The drawings and files were sent out to be made, with tolerances taken into account for the pem nuts and the clearance holes.
Once the parts came in, I was able to assemble the entire vacuum assembly and use the mount to secure it onto the chassis.
