Has anyone made a Delta Arm Robot (Spider Robot)?

We use them in packaging a lot to pick from a belt with a random stream of products and place them in packaging. They behave a lot differently than an articulated robot. I would rather steal someone's design than try to create it from scratch.

Hi Jim,

In 2008 I took the then older Cookie Packer model and added draw code to the cranes to make them each look like a Quattro. Looking back on it now, I wouldn't take the same approach as the end effector does not travel like a Cartesian robot (crane).

I would probably use a BasicTE for the base and a surrogate for the end effector, then use draw code similar to what I have in the Cookie Packer model to draw the connecting arms between them. I don't think it is worth the inverse kinematic approach using joint speeds as there are too many mechanical/physical unknowns (unless you are the robot manufacturer) that would govern the move time. With a BasicTE you could use kinematics to make the end effector travel linearly or however you see fit, and there is always the option to reverse calculate speeds based on a move time you provide it.

Kris,
I am Very impressed. I will be spending a few hours taking this one apart to see how you made it work.

I see you did multiple belts to simulate the random stream of cookies. This is one area it might be useful to have a new item in Flexsim that could do more than one object across on a conveyor.

I will need to tweak this a bit for what we need since our product is not round and has to be oriented a certain direction as well. In addition, our packages flow counter to the flow of cookies and each one can be filled by whichever robot it flows by. Going to be a tough one, but you just saved me hours of work getting started.

Thank you!
Jim

I see you did multiple belts to simulate the random stream of cookies. This is one area it might be useful to have a new item in Flexsim that could do more than one object across on a conveyor.

Again, I didn't create the original model. Just modified the task sequence for the cranes and added draw code to make them look like spiders. The "conveyor" that the robots are picking from is pretty close to what you might want to go with... assuming that your conveyor does not have a curve. I would create a BasicFR with a surrogate (call it Belt) and use kinematics to send that Belt object to infinite in the x direction at the start of the model. As items enter the BasicFR, query the kinematic for the current x location of the Belt and then set the x location of the item to the same value in the negative direction. Don't forget to check the 'Draw Main Object Sub-Content' checkbox inside the animation creator on your Belt surrogate (sub-component), then hide the contents of the BasicFR.

You are free to set y, z and rotations of the items to anything you like, and the best part is that you can remove the item from the conveyor anytime you want.


Alternatively, a cheap trick for getting items to appear side-by-side on a standard conveyor is to set the spacing value to near zero and set the item's offsety attribute on entry. You might have to add the attribute to your item class by pressing the Edit Shape Factors button in the flowitem bin.