Introduction PDF

Automated Mechanical
System Design
Introduction
Prof. Hermes Giberti

Agenda
• General information
• Exam modality
• Exam dates
• Study materials
• Course objectives
• What is an automated machine?
• The context and the machine modelling
Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 3

General Information
Hermes Giberti
T: 0382.98.5255
hermes.giberti@unipv.it
no fixed-time reception
(Via Ferrata,5, Building 29, Floor G)
• Hours:
• Lecture on Tuesday (from 11.15 to 12.45 in B1)
 Theory
• Practice on Monday (from 14.15 to 16.30 in B1)
 “Matlab”, “Inventor”, “Recurdyn” exercises, Analysis of industrial
cases…
• Seminars offered by companies

General Information
• Exams (dates to be confirmed):
• 28/06/2023 14:00 A1
• 17/07/2023 14:00 A1
• 08/09/2023 09:00 A1
• 22/09/2023 09:00 E1
• Extraordinary exam session:

• On demand for students of the previous year

General Information
The exam consists of two steps:
• Written exam: true/false questions and simple exercises
(a minimum of 12 correct answers will gain you access
to the oral exam. Your final mark will be based solely on
your performance in the oral exam)
• Oral exam: questions on the course topics (possibly an
analysis of the reports prepared during the practice
course. Preparing reports of industrial cases presented
during the practice course is recommended but not
mandatory.)

General Information
Written exam example:

General Information
Alternatively, the exam could be taken through a group project
that results in a report and presentation.
• The project will be assigned at the beginning of the course.
• Groups must be made up of maximum 3 students, preferable
of different country and different knowledge.
In each group one person should be nominated as head and

(s)he is in charge to communicate with me for any future
eventuality
• Groups definition by 13/03/2023 → the head of the group
sends me the email with the names of the 3 students
• Students who will not take part of a group by 13/03/2023 will
take the exam in “no project” mode.

General Information
Where/What am I supposed to study?
- Slides available on the Kiro website

(https://elearning.unipv.it/course/view.php?id=1939)
- Excerpts of books available on the Kiro website
- Books (suggestions):
- Design of Automatic Machinery, Stephen J. Derby, ISBN 9781420030846
- Design and Analysis of Mechanisms: A Planar Approach, Michael J. Rider,
ISBN: 978-1-119-05433-7
- Actuators: Basics and Applications, Editors: Janocha, Hartmut (Ed.), ISBN
978-3-662-05587-8
As the students are from non-homogenous studying paths, the study

material could be modified during the course depending on the reactions
in the classroom

Course objective
An overview of automatic machinery and the
manufacturing industry world from a
mechanical and mechatronic point of view.
Topics:
• Reference to the mechanics of machines
• Motion curves
• Actuators (mechanical, electric, pneumatic,
hydraulic and innovative)
• Motor reducer sizing procedure
• Linkages and cam mechanisms
• Examples of automatic machinery for the
manufacturing industry
• Reference to dynamic analysis and design of
machines.

What is an automated machine?
It is a device that performs tasks, in other words a machine is a kind
of tool capable of transforming energy in order to perform an
intended action.
The first machines are called “Simple Machines” such as LEVERS, or
inclined planes, wheels and axles, pulleys, wedges, screws)
Mechanical
advantage Human or animal energy is the basis of
device the working principle of these devices.

Simple machines are mechanical devices
capable of changing the direction or
magnitude of a force. They are the
simplest mechanisms that use the so-
called mechanical advantage (or leverage)
in order to increase the output force.
Remember Archimedes' famous remark:
"Give me a place to stand on, and I will
move the Earth.“ (c.287 – c.212 BC)
The Italian scientist Galileo Galilei in 1600
(Le Meccaniche - On Mechanics), was the
first to explain that simple machines do
not create energy, only transform it.
These simple machines are the building
blocks of which all machines are
composed.

A machine is a device for transforming or transferring energy.
Generally, it can be considered as a number of fixed and moving
bodies interposed between the “source of power” and the
“work to be done”.
If the “source of power” is a motor (or engine) the machine
works without human effort.
A machine with a drive system is termed Machinery and must
be designed and developed following the “Machinery Directive”.
The Machinery Directive, Directive 2006/42/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council is a European Union directive
concerning machinery and certain parts of machinery. Its main
intent is to ensure a common safety level in machinery placed
on the market.

The first examples of automated devices are very old. They were realized in order to
replace human activity or to amaze people using actuation systems based on air pressure,
steam and water.
Hero of Alexandria 60-150 A.D.
– Opening and closing of a temple door
– Steam turbine
Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519

We have to wait for the eighteenth century in order to face
with a very interesting devices
Jacques de
Vaucanson (1709-
1782), French
scientist, built the
“Digesting Duck,”
capable of
reproducing the
digestive and
defecatory
processes. This
automated system
was made up of over
400 mobile
elements in each
wing and was able
to drink, to flap its
wings, move the
neck etc.

From machinery designed to amaze through to production systems
In 1725 Basile Bouchon of Lyon, the son of an
organ maker, adapted the concept of musical
automata controlled by pegged cylinders to
the repetitive task of weaving.
He invented a loom that was controlled by
perforated paper tape. Bouchon's invention
was the first industrial application of a semi-
automated machine.
In order to make the input of instructions to
the loom more flexible, in 1728 Jean-Baptiste
Falcon substituted a chain of punched paper
cards for the perforated paper tape
employed by his colleague Basile Bouchon.
Other inventors also contributed to the
automation of weaving: Regnier and
Vaucanson.
However, none of the attempts before
Jacquard were totally successful.

From machinery designed to amaze through to production systems
Combining the concepts developed for the so-
called amazing machines and with the
development of technology and knowledge, we
started constructing devices capable of producing
and operating.
In 1801 the Frenchman Joseph-Marie Jacquard
introduced a mechanism which was destined to
revolutionize the production of textiles in the 19th
century and built by means of the integration of
the technique of needles and perforated paper
tape (by Basile Bouchon and Jean Baptiste Falcon)
and the Vaucanson’s cylinder.
This consists of a normal weaving loom having a
mechanical system which allows the automated
movement of the single threads.
It is considered the forerunner of the calculator.

The 19th century was an era of rapidly accelerating
scientific discovery and inventions. In the development of
automatic production systems, these are the milestones

First industrial revolution (1784): Through the introduction
of mechanical production facilities by means of water and
steam power (first automatic loom)

Second industrial revolution (circa 1870): through the introduction
of a division of labour and mass production with the help of
electrical energy (assembly line).

Third industrial revolution (about 1969): the programmable logic controller PLC
PLC is conceived under the boost of GM division

dedicated to the realisation of the Hydra-matic
drive: the first really workable automatic shifting
gears. This division had a strong interest in
developing a “digitally based, easily programmable
industrial controller” to improve production
operations.

Automation requires programming:
From mechanics to electronics
perforated paper tapes

to the first computers
based on transistors
Olivetti Elea 9003 (ELaboratore

Elettronico Aritmetico) 1957-59
Memory: 20Kbit (elaboration 8K)
One of the first transistor computers
in the world …bulky and expensive.

A boost to research and development came from
space travels. This historical period sees the birth of
mechatronics (a term coined by the Japanese in the
1970’s).
The first industrial robot called “Unimate” dates back

to 1959 and was produced by Unimation Inc. and
installed at the General Motors plant for the
treatment of parts produced by means of die casting

Unimate at
work!

We did the
same thing
60 years
later in our
laboratory

The fourth industrial revolution (trend rather than revolution)
is based on the concept of the cyber physical system (CPS)

With the succession of revolutions, automatic production has
become increasingly complex and multidisciplinary.
The fourth industrial revolution (or trend) broadens the
borders of automatic systems beyond the production plant
and reaches a dimension which is not only physical.
The boost to this transformation was given by “Information
and Communications Technology”, commonly known as ICT.
The term “Industry 4.0” was used for the first time at the 2011
Hannover Exhibition by Henning Kagermann, Wolf-Dieter Lukas
and Wolfgang Wahlster and took shape towards the end of
2013 thanks to a series of German government projects aimed
at bringing German manufacturing to a world apex.

Automation has close ties to the automotive industry.
Dieter Zetsche chairman of the board of Daimler and in charge of
Mercedes-Benz cars stated:
“All major trends in the automobile industry are already driven by
digitalisation or are driving it themselves. Our aim is to be the
world's leading, most innovative automobile manufacturer when it
comes to digital technologies, too.”
Markus Schäfer, a member of Divisional board Mercedes-Benz Cars,
manufacturing and supply chain management of Daimler, added:
“For us at Daimler it is beyond question that the digital
transformation will lead to fundamental changes in our industry.
This applies to the methods we use to develop, plan and produce
our vehicles. It also relates to the ways in which we make contact
with our customers. And, not least, we will be able to experience the
digital transformation in our products themselves.”

The 4.0 industrial revolution passes through the so-called “smart factory”
which is based on three fundamental elements:
• Smart production: new production technologies which create
collaboration between all the production elements, more particularly
collaboration between operators, machines and tools.
• Smart services: all the “IT infrastructures” and techniques which allow
the integration of the systems; but also all the structure which allow in a
collaborative way, the integration of companies (supplier/customer)
between them and with the external structures (roads, hubs, refuse
management, and the like)
• Smart energy: the industrial evolution cannot occur without taking into
account energy consumption, and without creating more performing
systems able to reduce energy waste.
Industry 4.0 is not only a revolution from the company point of view but
also in the system in which the companies operate and the relationship
between the company and the end user: a new economic model for the
industrial world.

The concept in which industry 4.0
is based is the “cyber physical
system” CPS.
CPS are “devices” in which the IT
structure interacts continuously
and systematically with the
physical system in operation and
is in a position to communicate
and exchange information with
the external world
CPS require a communications
structure and this is supplied by
the internet or by the so-called
“internet of things” (IoT)

Example of the
development of a CPS
system
Industry 4.0 transposes
these concepts and inserts
itself in an integrated way
within a global
communication network
Note:
Industry 4.0 →Germany
Industrial Internet →USA
Made in china 2025 →
China

Having defined the CPS, Boston consulting have identified 9 facilitating technologies for the Industry 4.0 also called pillars of
the industrial revolution:
1. Big Data Analytics: Data analysis will optimize production quality, save energy, and improve services. The goal is to
allow real-time decision-making.
2. Advanced manufacturing solution: Robots provide an ever increasing range of services and are becoming more
autonomous, flexible, and cooperative. They interact with one another and work safely with humans.
3. Simulation: 3D simulation of product development, material development and production processes will become
increasingly widespread. It will leverage real-time data to mirror the physical world in a virtual model that includes
machines, products and humans(digital twin)
4. Horizontal and vertical integration: With Industry 4.0, the entire organization will be interconnected, and companies
will be connected with one another
5. Industrial internet: Few machines are currently fitted with sensors and interconnected. With the Industrial Internet of
Things, an ever greater number of products will incorporate artificial intelligence and be connected using standard
protocols.
6. Cyber-security: Protecting information systems and manufacturing lines from cybercrime threats is becoming a critical
issue. Sophisticated identity and machine access management systems will be used to provide secure, reliable
communications.
7. Cloud: The operating processes of Industry 4.0 require more data sharing across sites and companies. The performance
of cloud technologies will improve, achieving response times of mere milliseconds.
8. Additive manufacturing: These technologies will be chosen for their very high performance in producing small batches
of customized products.
9. Augmented reality: this will provide operators with the real-time information they need for faster decision-making and
for improving work processes

Towards the next revolution → Industry 5.0
Industries can play an active role in providing solutions to
challenges for society including the preservation of resources,
climate change and social stability.

The Industry of the Future approach brings benefits for industry, for
workers and for society
I5.0 places the wellbeing of the
worker at the centre of the
production process and uses
new technologies to provide
prosperity beyond jobs and
growth while respecting the
production limits of the planet.
I5.0 complements the existing
"Industry 4.0" approach by
specifically putting research
and innovation at the service of
the transition to a sustainable,
human-centric and resilient
European industry.

Context
Mechatronics, robotics …., in other words Automated Systems
The aim of automation is substituting man with machinery in a production cycle,
both to perform operations and the elaboration of information processing.
Disciplines required for automation:

• Mechanical
• Electronics
• Informatics
• Sensor techniques Course focus
• Actuators
• Control systems
• Mathematics
• …. The “steel” part of a machine!

Context
This field is very wide, so in order to better understand the context of the
course, it is useful to define the automation level reachable in an industrial
plant:
• Rigid Automation: mass production with items having constant

characteristics. High productivity and highly specialized machinery
• Programmable Automation: characterizes the production of small and
medium production lots with variable characteristics. Machine
programming allows for different types of work; the machinery has a
certain degree of versatility
• Flexible Automation: the production of variable production lots of
different manufactured items.
Note:
Robots are devices intrinsically capable of providing characteristics of
versatility and flexibility

Context
Most of the automated systems are realized without the use of robots.
For example, a sorting system for apples

Context
Manufacturing
industry
Injection stretch
blow molding
Plastic raw material
Injection molding
preforms
bottles

Context

Context
• How can we study these complicated systems?
• How can we design them?
• Is it possible to collect the required knowledge on this field in
a single course?
• Method to approach a problem

• Basic theoretical tools to be used (…simple tools)
• Basic systems to combine in order to create complex devices
Reminder… working in this field requires experience and

criterial capacity to analyse problems and results. Both of these
characteristics rely greatly on practical experience.

Machine modelling
…simple systems
Analyse the
problem and
separate it into
several subsystems
or functional
groups.
A functional group
is usually:
- 1 Dof system
- It is possible to
study
individually

Machine modelling
The functional group could be described
in a schematic way as follows:
Motor Transmission Load
Where are the three elements?

Machine modelling
Sometimes it is difficult to define which is the element named “load” because the
motor and the reducer (or more generally the mechanical transmission) move
many parts with several external forces acting upon these
Very often the object of the machine is to generate a precise movement in a
specific part of the system and not bearing loads.
In the manufacturing field very often the energy consumed is only due to the
inertial forces.
Thereafter, the aim of this course is to show how the movement is generated and
how it is possible to introduce energy (power) into our system in order to realize
a required movement.

Design example
Generating a precise movement in a specific part of a functional group is
the first objective of any machine.
In brief we can itemise the main steps to design a machine as follows:
• Analyse the functional requirements of the process (what is required to
be done or produced)
• Separate the problem into sub-problems
• Analyse every sub-problem and define the motion of the part of the
machine that interacts with the goods or the products
• Design/choose/synthetize the mechanical parts between the end
effector and the actuator
• Size the actuator system in accordance with the dynamic requirements
• Design the machine (recursive activity)
• Design electrical, electronics, software and controls parts
• Build and test the equipment

Design example
Design an automated slicer
machine for bananas
Four main unit operations are

involved in the banana chip Curiosity:
making process:
Which is the most
1. peeling of the banana, important producer of
2. Slicing the banana, bananas in the world?
India with about 17 million
3. frying tons per annum
4. packaging of banana chips.

Design example
Step 1: Analyse the functional requirements of the process
(what is required to be done or produced)
• Productivity (kg/hour)
Buyer
• Interaction modalities with the machine
• Dimension boundaries and constraints
Literature
research
Experimental
tests

Design example
Step 2: Separating the problem into sub-problems
Feeder Peeling Cutting Cooking Packaging
system system system system
Feeder box Cutter Slice transport

system
Functional groups

Design example
Step 3: Analysis of each sub-problem and defining the motion
of the part of the machine that interacts with the goods or the
products
Feeder box Cutter Slice transport

system
X Y Z
Alternative or continuous movement?
Experience Costs Easy to use Competitors Market Precision …
Continuous movement Alternative movement No movement

Design example
Step 4: Design/choose/synthetize the mechanical part between
the end effector and the actuator
Y
X Z
Continuous movement Alternative movement No movement
Crank slider fall by

mechanism gravity
Conveyor

Design example
Step 5: Size the actuator system according to the dynamic
requirements
Cutter
Bananas
Crank slider
Conveyor mechanism
Motor
asynchronous Banana
slices
Container
Belt transmission
In order to simplify the system and save costs, we have

decided to use a single motor to actuate the conveyor
and the crank slider mechanism.

Design example
Machine example

Design example
Considerations:
• The conveyor should be moved in an intermittent way
(it is better to cut bananas without a relative movement
between bananas and cutter along the feeding
direction)
• When we cut something, we should press it down from
the top in order consolidate its position
• How can one guarantee the direction of the bananas on
the conveyor?
• How can one regulate the thickness of the slices?

Design example
There is no a single solution for a problem

Design example
The best solution depends on the requirements and field of
application

Topics
Course topics:
• Design of an automated machine:
• Introduction to the automation issues of a production process, why automation is
necessary, the steps required for designing and developing an automated machine
and the classification of automated machine
• Design of movement:
• The classification of movements, definition of motion curves for automation and
proprieties of the acceleration diagram, principal requirements and optimization of
a motion curve.
• Outlines of mechanical actuation systems:
• The classification of the mechanical actuation systems, movement transmission and
overview of the principal devices used.
• Outlines of electromagnetic actuation systems:
• overview of the principal devices used in the automation field and introduction to
the methodologies of sizing asynchronous and brushless motors. Outlines of
unconventional Actuators.
• Outlines of fluid power actuation systems:
• The introduction of fluid power systems, classification and overview of the most
commonly used devices

Topics
Motion curves: Analysis of motion curves for industrial
applications. Definitions, properties, limits of motion curves
with particular boundary conditions: starting from zero with nil
velocity and arriving to total rise (h) with nil velocity.

Topics
Electric actuators: catalogue reading and typical problems in
choosing electrical motors.

Topics
Mechanical actuation systems: for example Cam mechanisms (synthesis and
analysis of planar cam mechanisms used in industrial automation with particular
reference to the manufacturing environment), Linkage mechanisms (analysis and
reference to synthesis of linkage mechanisms. Classification of linkage
mechanisms based on the number of the links and description of some particular
kind of linkage mechanisms)
The Jansen's linkage Cam transfer

Topics
Fluid power actuators: introduction of fluid power systems,
classification and overview of the most commonly used devices

Topics
Matlab and the simulink toolbox called mutibody will be the
tools used during the practice.

Topics
Recurdyn, a multibody simulation program.

Note
Visits to companies → Eucentre, Artsana, Atom, Ceme…
depending on the availability of the company
Visit to SPS trade fair:

https://www.spsitalia.it/en/home
Through the initiative “Lezioni in Fiera” we could visit the
trade fair in Parma on 23 (or 25) May 2023.
I’m waiting for your confirmation by this Friday

(10/03/2023)

Thank you for your attention

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Automated Mechanical

Prof. Hermes Giberti

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 3

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 4

• Extraordinary exam session:

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 5

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 6

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 7

In each group one person should be nominated as head and

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 8

- Slides available on the Kiro website

As the students are from non-homogenous studying paths, the study

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 9

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 10

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 11

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 12

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 13

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Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 17

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 18

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 19

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 20

PLC is conceived under the boost of GM division

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 21

perforated paper tapes

Olivetti Elea 9003 (ELaboratore

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 22

The first industrial robot called “Unimate” dates back

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 23

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 24

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 25

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 26

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Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 31

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 32

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 33

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 34

Disciplines required for automation:

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 35

• Rigid Automation: mass production with items having constant

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 36

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 37

Plastic raw material

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 38

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 39

• Method to approach a problem

Reminder… working in this field requires experience and

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 40

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 41

Motor Transmission Load

Where are the three elements?

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 42

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 43

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 44

Four main unit operations are

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 45

Prof. Hermes Giberti Automated Mechanical System Design 46

Feeder box Cutter Slice transport