Automated storeage solution - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: ElectronicsHobbyist
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 29, 2023, 05:32:22 pm
content: Hi GuysI've been a silent observer for quite some time. However I think the project I am currently working on might be of interest which is why i decided to share its current state and my plans for the future.As the title suggests I am building an automated storeage solution for small mechanical and electronic parts. I started this project simply because the storeage in my lab is all over the place currently and I hope to bring some order into it using this solution. I already built a (more or less) working prototype which can be seen in action here:https://youtu.be/Lr_ZOjyPq00It would be awesome if this project would end up as an open source automated storeage solution which works reliably and is easy to build (I know its a little bit far fetched but one can dream right).I created a GitHub repo (https://github.com/PascalBilger/OpenOrganizer/) for collaboration and to explain the current working principle and the changes i planned for the future. Feel free to check it out if anyone is interested or wants to contribute any ideas.Best regards,ElectronicsHobbyist

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 29, 2023, 06:50:55 pm
content: I quite like the design. It's a lot like those big automated distribution centers with 1000 or so robots buzzing around, but then tilted 90 degrees. Being limited to one robot (well you could add a few more if needed, but not very many) is a quite severe limit on the speed for fetching things. It looks like you intended to be able to take out multiple of those buckets in one go, but it is not demonstrated. Is this just software not finished yet, or do you have trouble to get it reliable?

author: ElectronicsHobbyist
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 29, 2023, 07:08:28 pm
content: The video is of the first prototype i made. Pulling more than one container out at a time actually worked softwarewise but the hardware crashed. In general the design was pretty unstable and crashed often which is why I will tilt the storeage by 90 degrees in the next version so it will actually be almost identical to the distribution centers you mentioned. The speed is of course pretty limited but I would rather spend 2 Minutes waiting for the storeage to do its thing than 30 Seconds actively searching (And it just feels amazing selecting the part on your PC and getting it delivered automatically).

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2023, 09:00:18 pm
content: The biggest trouble with relatively complex mechanical contraptions is to get them to work reliably.On Gitlab you write:The biggest change will be the fact that the containers will be stacked vertically instead of horizontally. That way the slow movement in Z direction due to the lead screws can be avoided using a CoreXY gantry.I don't think that is really necessary. With a combination of a bit bigger motor, and a counterweight You can get plenty of speed. I am also not too sure about CoreXY. With CoreXY the Z-axis weight is divided over both motors, but you can just leave the horizontal axis as is, and only use a bigger motor with a timingbelt for the Z-axis (Also Adding some pulleys with an about 1:3 speed reduction also gets you more torque. Also, with steppermotors, you want to make your construction and gear ratio in such a way that the motors run at about 600rpm or faster. If a Nema23 motor runs faster, then it looses torque, but because the mechanical advantage is also bigger, these partly cancel each other out, but the other advantages remain (higher resolution and stiffer motor).Some other things I would change.1. Put the frame much closer to the storage area. Now you have a big wobbly stick-out, and that is not good for accuracy and reliability. It's much better to have the "wobbly stick-out" behind the frame, where it does not interact with the storage area.2. Beef up the frame. Use something like 60mmx60mm extrusions and put linear rails on it (MGR12 or similar). When you move the frame towards the storage area, you can also fix them to each other, so there is no relative movement between them. Maybe you can also mount the MGR rails directly to the MDF storage area.And of course these are also no new Ideas. In some (very old) book libraries there are ladders which are fixed on wheels to the shelves. The ladder can move horizontally, but it never falls off. In a more modern variant it's like a "high-bay warehouse". (Put that in youtube).Yet another idea:Put some kind of web cam on it. and make a picture of each container each time it's being taken out or put back into the system. This can get you a quick confirmation whether parts are really where they should be.

author: ElectronicsHobbyist
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 31, 2023, 06:12:00 pm
content: Thank's very much for your suggestions!I think I might not have explained what I mean by "stacking vertically" very well. What I was thinking of was to to turn the entire storeage by 90° so the slots are oriented vertically. The principle would look about like this:I already designed a gripper with which i can pick the containers up and lift them out of the storeage. A short demo:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mREgzeUiP4E.I would then probably use a wire to raise and lower this gripper and the attached container.Of course your suggestion of beefing up the frame would surely work if i wanted to stick with the current orientation. However what I hope to achieve by changing the orientation is that I wont have to move the entire gantry against gravity. That way both of the motors in the CoreXY gantry should not experience any load due to gravity. I hope that that way the system will work reliably without beefing it up too much.However if this won't work for some reason I think this will surely help, especially moving the gripper back which I haven't thought of until know.The camera is an excellent idea as well. I already planned to integrate a scale to approximate the number of pieces left. I think combining them will give you a really good overview of what is left.Sadly I don't really have that much time to work on the storage these days. I hope my calender clears up somewhat in the near future.Thanks again for your suggestions, I really appreciate it.