Team:Sherbrooke/Design

Design


Our robotic platform is composed of many modules, each with their own specifications, concept and functionalities. Each module is designed to be independent so they can operated alone or jointly with the other modules. The teamwork between every module is mainly managed by the Main Administrator that communicates with all of them, and controls them via a bus CAN and custom controller boards, named BananaBoard. In its entirety, the project has seven distinct modules: The platform, the tool holder support, the gripper, the centrifuge, the magneto caloric module for 96-well plate, the magneto caloric module for 1.5mL tube and the turbido agitator caloric module for glass tube. The global architecture of the robotic platform is as follows:



Biobot Project Global Architecture

In this page you will learn all there is to know about each of them, whether it is for the electrical, mechanical or software design. Scroll down or choose one module to learn about it.

Modules

 

Platform

The physical platform consists of everything related to the structure on which the movements take place. It is equipped with a motor and traction mechanism for each plane of movement, as well as indicators to locate the home position of each axis. Atop the structure is the travelling bridge, with the tool holder support. It holds the brackets on which the pipettes are fastened and is also the support for the gripper. Also on that support, are attached the actuators responsible for the pipetting action and the pipette tip releasing action. The movements and limit detection of the platform are supervised by a bought controller board called the SmoothieBoard. The robot does fluid and precise Cartesian movements and gives feedback on its position on demand. The platform was part of the first version of the whole robot bought from OpenTrons. Since the acquisition, it received a lot of modification. It's was doubled in size, the motors was changed for another model for X and X reasons and the original work area with rails was changed for a pegboard for easier placement of the modules.


Biobot Project Physical Platform (La changer pour une récente avec les modifications)

The structure itself is made up of aluminium extrusions, attached by 3D printed brackets. Aluminum extrusions were selected due to its lightness, rather low costs and simplicity to sterilize, which is a great advantage for a platform used in a biology lab. With the emergence of 3D printers rapidly gaining popularity, printing 3D parts is more accessible and relatively cheap compared as to fabricate parts in steel or aluminum. Brackets for the assembly of the physical platform are therefore cheap, easy to replace or modify in need.
The movements of the different axes are ensured by stepper motors using different types of traction methods to perform translations of the travelling bridge. For movements relative to the X and Y planes, two NEMA 17 stepper motors, model 17HS3001-20B, were used. They offer faster speeds, while still being precise as to 100 microns, which is useful to move the travelling bridge to a precise position without slowing down the whole process. These motors are attached to a dented rubber band which makes the travelling bridge move sideways. These are used because they can deliver fast speed, while being durable and reliable. Those two assets are significant since repetitive movements occur in the XY plane, which consequently deals more wear and tear.

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Tool Holder Support

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Gripper

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Centrifuge

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Magneto Caloric 96 (MC96)

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Magneto Caloric 1.5 (MC1.5)

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Turbido Agitator Caloric (TAC)

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BananaBoard

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Controller

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