DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

OF A CARTESIAN ROBOT

A. Gasparetto 1, G. Rosati2

1 Department ofElectrical, Management and Mechanical Engineering, University ofUdine, Italy

2 Department oflnnovation in Mechanics and Management, University ofPadova, Italy

KEYWORDS: Robotics, Robot Design, Cartesian Robot.

ABSTRACT. The paper presents the design and the implementation of a cartesian robot, carried out at the
Department ofElectrical, Management and Mechanical Engineering ofthe University ofUdine, in coop-
eration with the Department of Innovation in Mechanics and Management of the University of Padova.
The cartesian robot built is of the gantry type, i.e. it is intended to reach the object to manipulate from
above. It will be described in the paper how the design requirements were set, with respect to the me-
chanical and the electronic part, as weil as to the control system. The most important requirements to take
into account were those regarding: accuracy, dimensions, velocity, weight ofthe object tobe manipulated
and the overall cost of the system. The robot will then be equipped with suitable tools, so as to be used
for automation purposes in different fields (industrial, biomedical, etc.).

1 INTRODUCTION
The development of a manipulation system for different application purposes has been carried out
at the Department of Electrical, Management and Mechanical Engineering of the University of
Udine, with the cooperation of the Departrnent of Innovation in Mechanics and Management of
the University of Padova. Such a manipulation system was intended for the most generat applica-
tion scope, ranging from the generic "industrial" manipulation to more specific application such as
medical tasks.
After an accurate analysis, it was chosen to build a cartesian robot with three degrees of freedom,
made of three linear axes perpendicular to each other. This was due to the fact that the intended
structure bad to ensure the implementation of the first three degrees of freedom of the overall
robot (namely, the positioning of the end-effector) in the simplest possible way. Moreover, the
overall robot structure was to be of a modular type, so as to be able to add, remove and substitute
the robot components without affecting the whole structure. For instance, the wrist with the last
three degrees of freedom to be added to the robot could be a dedicated device for surgical opera-
tion (such as insertion of peduncular screws into human vertebrae), or a more generic tool for
pick-and-place operation in an industrial environment. In any case, the supporting structure had to
be simple, cost-effective, and easy to control. This led to the choice of a cartesian robot.
The paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, the design specifications for the robot are reported
with many details. In Section 3, the implementation of the structure is described and discussed,
and the effective technical data are reported as weil. Moreover, the dedicated control system, that
has also been realized in the laboratory, is described.

Published in: E.Kuljanic (Ed.) Advanced Manufacturing Systemsand Technology,

CISM Coursesand Lectures No. 437, Springer Wien New York, 2002.
540 A. Gasparetto, G. Rosati

2 SPECIFICATIONS AND DESIGN

Robot specifications are shown in Table I.

TABLE I. Robot specifications

RobotType Cartesian

Payload IOkg

X-axis run 700mm

Y-axis run 600mm

Z-axis run 500mm

Repeatability 0.5mm

Max. Speed I rnls

Max. Aceeieration 3 rnls2

The payload quoted in Table 1 includes both the tool mass and the mass of the object to be ma-
nipulated. Moreover, all the requirements must be met within a limited budget.
The robot overall scheme is shown in Figure 1. The main structure is made of ten aluminum alloy
bars, while the three Cartesian axes are provided by means of pre-assembled linear modules, that
are a good compromise between costs and accuracy.

FIGURE I. Robot architecture scheme

Design and Implementation of a Cartesian Robot 541

As it shows, the X-axis is made oftwo parallellinear modules, while the Y-axis is made of one
aluminum bar plus a linear module mounted on the top of it. This way, we improved robot stiff-
ness and reduced the Ioads acting on each module. The X-axis motor drives both X-axis linear
modules by means of a rigid shaft permanent transmission, so as to reduce costs and avoid the
driving control problems that would have risen if we had used one servomotor for each module.
Moreover, the Z-axis linear module flange is mounted directly on the Y-axis flange, in order to Iet
the robot tool approach the workspace from above, as it was set in the robot requirements.
Robot overall dimensions are 1600xl420x2100 mm3, while the workspace measures
700x600x500 mm3• The loss of workspace is the main counter-item of the choice of a Cartesian
robot structure, whose major benefits are the increased robot stiffness and accuracy [ 1].
The structure and motors dimensioning took into account both static and dynamic Ioads [2]. No
deformation analysis has been performed, as we chose pre-assembled linear bars and modules
whose deformations are of a cent of a millimeter for static Ioads an order of magnitude greater
than the robot operative Ioads. Moreover, in order to meet the repeatability requirement quoted in
Table 1, we chose reduced play gear reducers and precision belt linear modules, gaining an overall
positioning repeatability of nearly one tenth of a millimeter for each axis.

3 IMPLEMENTATION AND CONTROL

The linear modules chosen are the AS250D by "Automazione Macchine" (Amaro, Italy). Their
main section measures 90mm by 11 Omm, while their overall length is of 667mm plus axis run.
Linearity is ensured by means of a prismatic recirculating-balls linear guideway, while motion
transmission is made through a toothed precision belt. Linear modules main specifications are
shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2. Linear module "Automazione Macchine AS250D" specifications

Max. Speed 2.5 m/s

Max. Aceeieration 10 m/s2

Max. Torque 380Nm

Repeatability 0.1 mm

Weight (run=Omm) 16 kg

The motors are three Siemens 1FK6042 AC Bmshless servomotors, whose rated speed and torque
are 3000rpm and 2.6Nm respectively. Each motor is provided with a built-in resolver and a
Siemens Simadrive 611 driver, while the Z-axis motor has an automatic brake to compensate for
gravity in static conditions. The motors are linked to the belt sprockets by means ofthree Tecnoin-
granaggi BGT1050 reduced play gear reducers, whose reduction ratio and efficiency are 1:6 and
95% respectively.
542 A. Gasparetto, G. Rosati

An overview ofthe robot is shown in Figure 2, while the picture on the right-hand side ofFigure 3
depicts the Y-axis gearbox and motor. On the left hand-side ofFigure 3, the electronic equipment
is shown as well.

FIGURE 2. Robot overall view

FIGURE 3. Electrical equipment (left) and Y-axis gearbox and motor close-up (right)
Design and Implementation of a Cartesian Robot 543

Each axis of the robot is equipped with three inductive proximity sensors, that provide the zero
position and the axis overrun signals. These sensors, together with the motor resolvers and drivers
are connected to two National Instruments 7344 multiple-axis motion control PC boards, by
means oftwo UMI 7764 interfaces. The PID control parameters for each axis were tuned using the
Max software, provided together with the NI Motion Controllers.
A complete motion control user interface has been developed so far [3], and is currently undergo-
ing an improvement process. The software has been implemented using Labview 6.0, so as to give
the end-user the ability of easily driving the robot through simple 3D motion paths. The user can
also modify all the control and trajectory parameters in a very simple way. Moreover, the software
developed can be easily modified in order to meet the requirements of a specific application.

Ca1VHATION Of'POSS*.('IIOW(S fOf\Bt.l"NO FlCTOA

1 s..c-~~rddlctW«Dri......-..doonJ.~IIfl(loftlj:
0 rft~N(tiii'I;MIJ~.~~IJIO'W.
-H ca.,. rta~~c.~~~aotS'm-*1

FIGURE 4. Control software main window

As far as it concerns further developments, a three degree of freedom tool will be designed and the
robot, provided with a 6-axis force/torque sensor, will be tested in master-slave haptic teleopera-
tion tasks. A wire-driven five degree of freedom haptic master is currently under development at
the Departrnent oflnnovation in Mechanics and Management ofUniversity ofPadova. The haptic
master control will be interfaced to the Cartesian robot control in ordertoperform the teleopera-
tion tests.

4 CONCLUSION
The development of a manipulation system for different application purposes has been described
in this paper. This manipulation system was intended for the most general application scope,
ranging from the generic "industrial" manipulation to more specific application such as medical
tasks.
A cartesian robot with three degrees of freedom, made of three linear axes perpendicular to each
other was built, so as to ensure the implementation of the first three degrees of freedom of the
overall robot (namely, the positioning ofthe end-effector) in the simplest possib\e way. Moreover,
544 A. Gasparetto, G. Rosati

the overall structure was built so as to implement a modular robot. In this way adding, removing
and substituting the robot components without affecting the whole structure tuned out to be a rela-
tively easy task.
Within the paper, the design specifications for the robot have been first reported with many details.
Then, the implementation of the structure has been described and discussed, and the effective
technical data have been reported as well. Finally, the dedicated control system, that has also been
realized in the laboratory, has been described.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to thank the Italian Ministry ofUniversity and Scientific Research (MURST), that
provided the funds within the two-year METAFORE Research Project. W e would also like to
acknowledge Mr. Roberto Camatta, Mr. Adriano Biason and Mr. Brecht Neirinck who helped us
throughout robot design, assembly and control.

REFERENCES
1. Carlisle, B., (2000), Robot Mechanisms. Proceedings of the 2000 IEEE International Conference on
Robotics & Automation, 701-708.
2. Camatta, R., Gasparetto, A., (1999), Progetto e realizzazione di un manipolatore cartesiano tridimen-
sionale. University ofUdine, Graduation Thesis.
3. Gasparetto, A., Neirinck, B., (2001), Motion control of a three-axis Cartesian robot. University of
Udine, Department ofElectrical, Management and Mechanical Engineering, Interna! Report.