The document proposes the design of an autonomous robotic manipulator to assist people who cannot feed themselves. It describes the problem of people with disabilities requiring feeding assistance. The proposed solution is a robotic feeding arm that can be controlled independently. The current progress includes developing the schematic, prototype, and programming. Key features include safety measures like RFID and sensors, inverse kinematics for positioning, and multiple user interface options. Performance measures and timelines/budgets are provided to evaluate and plan the project. Next steps involve further programming, electronics design, and housing development.

1. Autonomous Robotic Manipulator
Team ARM - University of Massachusetts Lowell
Philip Colangelo, ZiChang Ruan, Allen Antony

2. Outline
● The Problem
● The Solution – Our Goal Design
● Current Progress
● Key Features
● Performance Measures
● Timeline/Budget
● Next Steps

3. Problem
● Our focus
– People who rely on a feeding staff
● In home, school, hospital, etc.
● Need
– Inhibiting situations
● Illness, cognitive challenges, paralysis, gross motor
control, etc.
– “785 million people have a physical and or mental
disability” [1].

4. Outline
● The Problem
● The Solution – Our Goal Design
● Current Progress
● Key Features
● Performance Measures
● Timeline/Budget
● Next Steps

5. Solution
● A feeding device that can be controlled by
someone who cannot feed themselves.
– Robotic Feeding Arm
● Benefits from solution
– Independence for users to feed themselves.
– Improved quality of life
– Frees up staff

6. Outline
● The Problem
● The Solution – Our Goal Design
● Current Progress – what we have done.
● Key Features
● Performance Measures
● Timeline/Budget
● Next Steps

7. Current Progress – Robot Arm
● Schematic
– Links
– Joint angles
– Joint positions
– 4 DOF
– |λθθθ|
Initial Robot Arm Schematic

8. Current Progress – Robot Arm
Solid Works Prototype

9. Current Progress – Robot Arm
● Link Lengths
– Ratios:
● L1: 1
● L2: 1/1.618
● L3: 1/3.236
– Desired Length
● With L1 = 13” ARM can reach up to 18.88”

10. Current Progress – Robot Arm
● Motors
– 5 DC Servo Motors
● λ1+θ1: SPG785A and Top Mount (7:1)
● θ2: HS-805BB Mega Power Servo
● θ3: HS-322HD Standard Deluxe Servo
● Bowl: HS-1425CR (Continuous Rotation) Servo
SPG785A Top Mount [2] HS-805BB [3]

11. Current Progress - Sensors
● Proximity Infrared Sensors
– Obstacle avoidance
– Sharp GP2D120XJ00F
● Range: 3cm to 30cm
Sharp Proximity Sensor [4].
● Analog output

12. Current Progress - Control
● Microprocessor
– 5 ADC pins for proximity sensors
– 5 16-bit Timer registers for PWM output
● PWM 16 bit resolution
– DIP package
● PIC32MX series
● PIC24FJ series
Microprocessor 40-DIP package [5].

13. Current Progress – Prototype

14. Current Progress – Program Flow

15. Outline
● The Problem
● The Solution – Our Goal Design
● Current Progress
● Key Features
● Performance Measures
● Timeline/Budget
● Next Steps

16. Key Features – Safety
● RFID
– Device will only work when in range
– Safety shut off when no tag is read
● Panic Button
– In case of an emergency user can override device
to shut down and call for help.

17. Key Features – Kinematics
● Inverse Kinematics (IK)
– Location
● Pin point desired location
● Feedback from camera will
update end effector to meet
user
– Obstacle avoidance
● IK's allows for remapping

18. Key Features – User Interface
● Push Button
– For users with gross motor skills
– 2 buttons
● Bowl motor
● Food present and return
● Facial Recognition
- Various facial movements to trigger device
- Arm can meet user position

19. Key Features – User Interface
● Open Source Computer Vision
– Facial recognition [6]
– Head movement

21. What Sets our Design Apart
● Cost Effective
– Manufacturing could make affordable for in home
use.
● Smart Design
– Small learning curve
– Simple design keeps costs low
● Easy maintenance
● Small footprint
● Grand potential

22. Outline
● The Problem
● The Solution – Our Goal Design
● Current Progress
● Key Features
● Performance Measures
● Timeline/Budget
● Next Steps

23. Performance Measures
Category Measurement Description
User Interaction
Push Buttons for arm control Human interaction The push button interface will be a success if the robot can be
triggered by different types of users.
Head Movement Human interaction The head movement interface will be a success if the robot can
be triggered by sideways head movement of different users.
Facial Features Human interaction The facial features interface will be a success if the robot can
be triggered by facial expressions of different users.
Movement Efficiency
Obstacle Avoidance Path of Motion Observation of arms behavior given an obstacle in test
environment.
Food Spillage Waste Performance of the arms ability to provide a smooth path for
the food to travel, any spillage from spoon will be unsuccessful.
Repeatability Number of Completions 10 successful food deliveries will be a success.

24. Outline
● The Problem
● The Solution – Our Goal Design
● Current Progress
● Key Features
● Performance Measures
● Timeline/Budget
● Next Steps

25. Timeline - Milestones
Milestone Range
Design December – January
Prototype January – February
Debug/Redesign February
Build March
Debug March
Finalize April

26. Timeline - Detailed
Pick out RFID system Jan 28 Place bulk order
continue developing openCV software Feb. 4
Build prototype ARM Feb. 11 Code IKS, PIR sensors
Debug ARM mechanics and sensors Feb. 18 continue developing openCV software
Research for new ways to improve the design Feb 25 Design Electronic Schematic
Design PCB Mar. 4 Mar. 7th 1hr online info sessions for finalist begins
Optimize/Redesign PCB – Order Mar. 11 Test Open CV software
Solder PCB Mar. 18 Implement Open CV software with ARM
Test ARM Mar. 25 Test with RFID
Build housing unit Apr. 1
Test and Debug ARM Apr. 8
Apr. 15 Apr. 22nd Final Report Due
Continue test and debug Apr. 22 Apr. 25th 1hr online info sessions ends
Finalize Apr. 29
May 1 Flight to Disney World !!!

27. Budget
● Given $2500 for project development and travel
– Our current design is high-averaging around $1000
for parts.

28. Outline
● The Problem
● The Solution – Our Goal Design
● Current Progress
● Key Features
● Performance Measures
● Timeline/Budget
● Next Steps

29. Next Steps
● Code
– Inverse kinematics
– Obstacle avoidance
– Computer Vision
● Electronics
– Finalize schematic
– Design PCB for control circuit
● Base
– Design housing (pending on Atom)

30. References
[1] Report: 15 percent of world population is disabled. [Online]. Available:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/report-15-percent-of-world-population-is-
disabled/2011/06/09/AGZcqBNH_story.html
[2] SPG785A Top Mount. [Online] Available:
http://www.servocity.com/html/spg785a_top_mount.html
[3] HS-805BB Giant Scale Servo Motor. [Online] Available:
http://www.robotshop.com/hitec-hs805BB-servo-motor.html
[4] Infrared Proximity Sensor Short Range - Sharp GP2D120XJ00F. [Online]. Available:
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/8959
[5] PIC Microcontroller. [Online]. Available:
http://media.digikey.com/Photos/Microchip%20Tech%20Photos/PIC18LF44K22-
I%5EP.jpg
[6] OpenCV. [Online]. Available: http://opencv.org/wp-
content/themes/opencv/images/logo.png