Development of a genetic algorithm controller for cartesian robot

• Main Author: Ong, Joo Hun
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English; English; English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery; TJ210.2-211.47 Mechanical devices and figures. Automata. Ingenious mechanisms. Robots (General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/7413/1/24p%20ONG%20JOO%20HUN.pdf; http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/7413/2/ONG%20JOO%20HUN%20COPYRIGHT%20DECLARATION.pdf; http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/7413/3/ONG%20JOO%20HUN%20WATERMARK.pdf; http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/7413/

In some daily tasks such as drilling, laser marking or spot welding application, the Cartesian robot is requested to reach with its hand tip to a desired target location. Such tasks become more complex if it has to handle multiple points in shortest travelling time and space. It is with these reasons that this study was conducted with the primary objective to develop a computational intelligent system that would contribute towards encouraging a productive and quality way of material handling and processing. The objective of this project is to design, develop and optimize the performance of a Cartesian robotic arm in terms of its positioning and speed to perform spot welding application. The genetic algorithm (GA) will be introduce, it will be able to look for the optimum sequences to solve its path planning via evolutionary solutions. GA will determine the best combination paths in order to minimize the total motion of welding time in shortest travel distance. The new algorithm is tested and implemented in this Cartesian robot. Laser pointer will replace the spot welding torch for the demonstration purpose in this project. This project involves in developing a machine learning system that is capable of performing independent learning capability for a given tasks. The design and development of this project will involve two major sections. First section concerns about the hardware construction, wiring and testing. Second section involves software design to control the movement of the robot for the spot welding. The hardware design can be categorized into two aspects i.e. the electrical design and mechanical design. The electrical design involves wiring of control components such as the stepper motor controller, input and output devices as well as the power supply and the safety devices. Finally, the developed algorithm will been tested and implemented into in this Cartesian robot system.