Design and Development of Robotic Arm

for Cutting Tree

Abstract
The Robot Institute of America defines a robot as a programmable multifunctional
manipulator designed to move material, parts and tools of specialized device through
variable programmed of variety of tasks. Today, in this modern fast growing industrial
age, every company is looking for speed in manufacturing to meet the needs and
requirements of its clients. Robots are more quickly, cheaply, and accurately than
humans have ever been. One type of robot mostly used in industry is a robotic
manipulator or simply robotic arm. It is open or closed kinematic chain of rigid links
interconnected by movable joints. In some configurations, links can be considered to
correspond to human anatomy as waist, upper arm and forearm with joint at shoulder
end elbow. A machine was designed and fabricated which can move around the tree
trunk smoothly while carrying the cutting system. A mechanize motor system also was
designed and assembled on the carrier machine for moving the cutting machine forward
and backward along the tree trunk radius. For a successful and smooth cutting process,
two direct current (DC) motors were used for carrier machine. Cutting machine consist
of a mechanism for cutting and a cutting blade. A reciprocating mechanism was used in
this project because of the added advantages of this method as compared to others.
Design of the blade tooth for doing a fast and clean cut was an important parameter in
this project. An ATmega2560 microcontroller were used to control the cutting system.

Keywords: Robot Arm, Design, Development, Implementation, DC Motors,

Manufacturing, Microcontroller, End-Effector, Robot Gripper, Cutting Tree

1. Introduction
The word robotics, meaning the study
of robot was coined by Isaac Asimov.
Robotics involves elements of
mechanical, electrical and software
engineering, as well as control theory,
computing and now artificial intelligence
(Selig, 1992). Robotics research today is
based on developing systems that
exhibit modularity, flexibility, fault-
tolerance, a general and extensible
software environment and seamless
connectivity to other machines, by
providing sensor based intelligence to
the mechanical arm. The goal of
agricultural robots does not only apply
to robotics technologies in the field of
agriculture, it also applies to using
agricultural challenges to develop new
techniques and systems. An agricultural
robot must deal with an unstructured,
unknown and varying environment.
In recent years, harvester robots have
been among the noteworthy topics
studied by researchers. First, as modern
industry has become more complex,
there has been a growing need for
getting work done in environments that
Figure 1. Components of Mechanical Arm
Page |2
are very dangerous for humans. As an
example, work in a nuclear reactor plant
often requires contact with radioactive
materials. Second, as robots became
more advanced and less expensive, they
are being set up in industry situations
where working conditions are not so
much dangerous as unpleasant for
various reasons. These situations
typically involve high degrees of the
following: - Heat, Noise, Poisonous
gases, risk of injury by machines. Simple
robots do many routine jobs in industry.
Robots are useful in sample assembly
operations such as stuffing printed
circuit boards and loading and
unloading parts from machines. Due to
increase using of industrial robot arms,
an evolution to the topic began trying to
imitate human movements in a detail
mode. For example a group of students
in Korea made a design of innovations
that robotic arm take account of dancing
hand, weight lifting, Chinese calligraphy
writing and color classification. Another
group of engineers at USA develop eight
degrees of freedom robot arm. This
robot is able to grasp many objects with
a lot of shapes from a pen to a ball and
simulating also the hand of human

being. In space, the Space Shuttle
Remote Manipulator System, known as
SSRMS, and its successor is example of
multi degree of freedom robot arms that
have been used to perform a variety of
tasks such as inspections of the space
shuttle using a specially deployed boom
with cameras and sensors attached at
the end effector.
2. Components of Mechanical
Arm
Figure 1. The structure of a mechanical
arm is usually mostly mechanical and
can be called a kinematic chain. The
chain. The chain is formed of links,
actuators, and joints which can allow
one or more degrees of freedom. Most
contemporary mechanical arm use open
serial chains in which each link connect
the one before to the one after it. These
mechanical arm are often resemble the
human arm. Mechanical arm used us
manipulators have an end effector
mounted on the last link. This end
effector can be anything from a welding
device to a mechanical hand used to
manipulate the environment.
Figure 2. DC Motor
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A DC motors (Figure 2) is any of a class
of electrical machines that converts
direct current electrical power into
mechanical power. Now a days, DC
motors plays a vital role in most of the
industrial areas, it can be seen in most of
the electronic devices. They are mainly
used for the mechanical movements of
physical applications such as rolling the
bundle of sheets or CD drivers, lifts etc.
Many methods evolved to control the
revolution of a motor. DC motors can be
controlled either by software or directly
by hardware. Software controlling needs
computers which are bulky and common
man cannot afford for it, so hardware
controls are in use. Even in hardware if
it is programmable device then it is
preferred because it can be modeled
according to the requirements of the
user.
Advantages of using PIC over other
controlling devices for controlling the
DC motor are given below:
1. SPEED: The execution of an
instruction in PIC IC is very fast (in
micro second). One instruction generally
takes 0.2 microseconds.
2. COMPACT: The PIC IC will make the
hardware circuitry compact.
3. RI SC PROCESOR: The instruction set
consists only 35 instructions.
4. EPROM PROGRAM MEMORY:
Program can be modified and rewritten
very easily.
5. INBULT HARDAWARE SUPPORT:
Since PIC IC has inbuilt programmable
timers, ports and interrupts, no extra
hardware is needed.
 Page |4

6. POWERFUL OUTOUT PIN CONTROL:

Output pins can be driven to high state,
using a single instruction. The output
pin can drive a load up to 25mA.

Vision Computer vision is the science

and technology of machines that see. As
a scientific discipline, computer vision is
concerned with the theory behind
artificial systems that extract
information from images.
The image data can take many forms,
such as video sequences and view from
cameras. In most practical computer
vision applications, the computers are
preprogrammed to solve a particular
task, but methods based on learning are
now becoming increasingly common.
Computer vision system rely on image
sensor which detect electromagnetic
radiation which is typically in the form
of either visible light or infra-red light.
The sensors are designed using solid-
state physics. The process by which light
propagates and reflects off surface is
explained using optics. Sophisticated
image sensor even require quantum
mechanics to provide a complete
understanding of the image formation
process.
Figure 3. Components of Machine
Vision Senors Diagram
Manipulation Mechanical arm which
must work in the real world require
some way to manipulate objects; pick
up, modify, destroy, or otherwise have
an effect. Thus the hands of a
mechanical arm are often referred to as
end effector, while the arm is referred to
as a manipulator.
Mechanical Grippers One of the most
common effectors is the gripper. In its
simplest manifestation it consists of just
two fingers which can open and close to
pick up and let go of a range of small
objects.

Figure 5. Human and Robot Grippers Figure 4. Robot Gripper

 Page |5

3. Cutting Machine points of the saw tooth make contact

with the material is an important factor
Two essential parameters for designing of the effective cutting performance of a
a cutting machine for any material are saw blade. Figure 6 shows the design of
the cutting mechanism and the cutter the alternate tooth style and teeth
blade design. Common types of cutting angles of the blade used in this project
machines include reciprocating saws, for cutting the trees. The radial lengths
horizontal endless band saws, universal of the circles that can be cut by a blade
tilt frame band saws, abrasive saws, and depend on the ratio of the width of the
cold saw. Rotary saw cutting is a cutting blade to the width of the saw kerf. Since
method which is versatile and effective the diameter of the trunk tree is not
for a variety of industrial applications. constant, the blade was designed based
The advantages of using the rotary saw on the minimum size of the three which
method are: faster cutting times, closer is 32 cm. The appropriate size of the
tolerances, better finishes, less kerf, blade width is calculated using:
easier tool changes, better tool life, and W2/2 = (R+K)2 (R+T)2 , where
an overall wider range of applicability. W is the blade width,
The reciprocating saw mimics the back R is the radius of the tree trunk,
and forth motion of a common hacksaw. K is the size of the kerf width, and
The gearing system inside the T is thickness of the blade.
reciprocating saw will cause the saw
blade move back and forth across the
material that needs to be cut. This saw is
usually used to cut wood, plaster, plastic
or some other soft material. The
important parameters to be considered
when choosing a blade for cutting are
the type of metal, width, blade set,
thickness, tooth form and length of the
blade. Most saws are designed to create Figure 6. The alternate set of style and its angles
a kerf that is wider than the saw blade.
This difference is called the side 4. Mechanical Design
clearance which is the most important
The mechanical design of the robot arm
parameter for doing a curve cut. The
is based on a robot manipulator with
teeth of the blade used in this project
similar function to a human arm. The
were bent alternately in opposite
links of such a manipulator are
directions to create a kerf wider than the
connected by joints allowing rotational
body. The amount of bending is usually
motion and the links of the manipulator
proportionate to the thickness of the
is considered to form a kinematic chain.
body. The amount of bending is usually
The business end of the effector or end-
proportionate to the thickness of the
of-arm-tooling and its analogous to the
blade body and is usually 25% of the
human hand. Figure 7 shows the Free
blade thickness. The angle at which the

Figure 7. Free Body Diagram of the Robot Arm
Body Diagram for mechanical design of
the robotic arm. As shown, the end
effector is not included in the design
because a commercially available
gripper is used. This is because that the
end effector is one of the most complex
parts of the system and, in turn, it is
much easier and economical to use a
commercial one than build it. The DC
motor was installed in such position so
that the teeth of its sprocket were placed
inside the chain. The rotation of the DC
motor causes the sheet metal to move
forward and backward. One limit switch
was installed at the head of the cutting
machine. When the cutting machine
moves forward, the limit switch touches
the tree surface and stops the motor.
Controlling of the DC motors is done by
the operator using the remote
controller. Figure 8 shows the work
region of the robotic arm. This is the
typical workspace of a robot arm with
four degree of freedom (4 DOF). The
mechanical design was limited to 4 DOF
mainly because that such a design
allows most of the necessary
movements and keeps the costs and the
complexity of the robot competitively.
Page |6
Figure 8. Work Region of the Robotic Arm
In choosing the materials and the shape
for the fabrication of the robotic arm,
the following were taken into
consideration:
The ease of manufacturing the
parts
The mode of manufacturing
Ease of assembly
Strength and durability of the
parts
Weight of robot
Cost
The principal requirements for power
transmission of robots are:
Low weight and moment of
inertia
High effective stiffness
Accurate and constant
transmission ratio
Low energy losses and friction
for better responsiveness of the
control system
Elimination of backlash
Small size
Hence, the combination of these factors
has influence all the choices made in the
design selection of the robotic arm.

Figure 9. Force Diagram of the Robotic Arm
Figure 9 shows the force diagram used
for load calculations. The calculations
were carried out only for the joints that
have the largest loads, since the other
joints would have the same motor. The
calculations considered the weight of
the motors, about 50 grams, except for
the weight of motor at joint B, since it is
carried out by link BA. Figure 10 shows
the force diagram on link CB, which
contains the joint (B and C) with the
highest load (carry the links DC and ED)
and the calculations are carried out as
follows.
The values used for the torque
calculations:
Wd = 0.011 kg (weight of link DE)
Wc = 0.030 kg (weight of link CD)
Wb = 0.030 kg (weight of link CB)
L = 1 kg (load)
Cm = Dm = 0.050 kg (weight of motor)
LBC = 0.14 m (length of link BC)
LCD = 0.14 m (length of link CD)
LDE = 0.05 m (length of link DE)
Performing the sum of forced in te Y axis,
using the loads as shown in Figure 10, and
solving for CY and CB, see Equations (1)-(4).
Similarly, performing the sum of moments
around point C, Equation (5), and point B,
Equation (6), to obtain the torque in C and B,
Equations (7) and (8), resectively.
Page |7
Figure 10. Force Diagram of Link CB
Fy =(L + Wd + Dm + Wc + Cm)g CY = 0 (1)
CY = (1.141 kg) 9.8 m/s2 = 11.18 N (2)
Fy =(L + Wd + Dm + Wc + Cm + WB)g CB = 0 (3)
CB = (1.171 kg ) 9.8 m/s2 = 1.4758 N (4)
MC = - (Wc LCD / 2) WD (LCD + LDE/ 2) (5)
-L (LCD + LDE) Dm(LCD) + MC = 0
MB= - L(LBC + LCD + LDE) - WD(LBC+LCD+LDE/2)
- Dm (LBC+LCD) Wc (LBC+LCD/2)
- Cm (LBC) WB (LBC/2) + MB = 0 (6)
Mc = 1.968 Nm = 278.6 oz/in (7)
MB = 3.554 Nm = 503.38 oz/in (8)
5. Remote Controller
A remote controller system comprises of
hardware and software designed and
fabricated for operator to control the
cutting system. The remote conroller and
the cutting system each have one HM-RF
transmitter receiver device and an
Atmega2560 microcontroller as the main
hardware components. A specific program
was written for each microcontroller to
receive the data, analyze them and finally
generate and send the appropriate
commands to other components, such as
DC motors and HM-RF devices.
A HM-TR Transparent Wireless Data Link
Module consists of two parts, both of
which can send and receive data
wirelessly. The first part is used by the
remote controller to send the operators
commands and the second part is installed

Figure 11. Block Diagrams of a Microcontroller
on the cutting system to receive the
commands from the remote controller.
The data transferred between these parts
uses a radio frequency that ranges
between 310.24 and 929.27 MHz. This
paper focuses more on the processes
needed to transfer the data from the HM-
TR Module to the microcontroller, and the
analysis of them.
SOFTWARE
When the operator pushes a button of the
remote controller, the remote controller
sends three numerical codes to the
receiver of the robot. The first number
informs the microcontroller that a new
command is being sent by remote
controller and it readies the
microcontrolles to receive the next two
numbers. The second number is the code
of the command that is allocated to a
button of the remote controller. By
analyzing this number, the microcontroller
understands what the operator wants the
robot to do. The third number is a
summation of the first and the second
numbers and is called the check sum
number. The microcontroller also adds up
the first and the second received numbers
Page |8
and compares the result with the check
sum. If these numbers are the same, the
microcontroller understands that it has
received the data from the remote
controller completely and correctly.
In the next program, the microcontroller
sends the appropriate command to each
DC motor based on the value of the
second number. To change the motors
rotation directions, a miniature
intermediate power relay was used for
each motor. The operator can start and
stop the DC motors for moving the cutting
system around the tree trunk and also
move it forward and backward.
6. Electronic Design
Electronic design involves designing and
choosing of the electrical components as
per our requirements. Some of those used
in our project are given below.
MICRO CONTROLLER
A micro controller (Figure 11) is similar to
a processor in a computer. The primary
difference is that the micro controller has
the CPU, the flash memory, the RAM and
external ports all buit into a single chip.

All this makes the micro controller very
cheap and is true value for money.
The various components of the MCU
shown in Figure 11 are explained below:
Random Access Memory (RAM): RAM is
used for temporary storage of data during
runtime.
ROM: ROM is the memory which stores
the program to be executed.
SFR Registers: Special Function Registers
are special elements of RAM.
Program Counter: This is the engine
which starts the program and points to the
memory address of the instructuion to be
executed.
Control Logic: As the name implies, it
which supervises and controls every aspect
of operation within MCU.
A/D Converter: A/D stands for analog to
digital. They convert analog to digital
signals.
I/O Ports: To be of any practical use,
microcontrollers have ports which are
connected to the pins on its case.
Oscillator: This is the rhythm section of the
MCU. The stable pace provided by this
instruments allws harmonius and
synchronus functioning of all other parts
of MCU.
Timers: can be used for measuring time
between two occurrences and can also
behave like a counter.
Power Supply Circuit: this powers the
MCU.
Page |9
7. Advantages and Disadvantages
- Advantages
Quality - Industrial automated mechanical
arm have the capacity to dramatically improve
product quality. Applications are performed
with precision and high repeatability every
time.
Production - With mechanical arm,
throughput speeds increase, which directly
impacts production. Because an automated
mechanical arm has the ability to work at a
constant speed without pausing for breaks or
sleep, it has the potential to produce more
than a human worker.
Safety - Mechanical arm increase workplace
safty. Workers are moved to supervisory roles
where they no longer have to perform
dangerous applications.
Savings - Improved worker safety to financial
savings. There are fewer healtcare and
insurance for employers.
- Disadvantages
Expense - The initial investment to integrated
automated robotics into your business is
significan, espcially when business owners are
limiting their purchases to new robotic
equipment.
ROI - Incorporating industrial robots does not
guarantee results. Without planing,
companies can have difficulty achieving their
goals.
Expertise - Employees will require training
program and interact with the new robotic
equipment. This normally takes time and
financial output.
Safety - Robots may protect workers from
some hazards, but in the meantime, their very
presence can create other safety problems.
These new dangers must be taken into
consideration.
 P a g e | 10

8. Conclusions weights and exert larger forces. Thay can be

This paper presents the design and
development of robot arm for cutting tree,
which has the talent to accomplish simple
task, such as rotate, lower and raise its arm,
by being controlled by the microcontroller is
build successfully. The weights of all the
motors were put into consideration when
calculating the torque by each joint. This is to
make sure the gears are arranged in a way
that will produce enough torque to carry the
succeeding load. Use of DC motor at the base.
The output torque of the DC motor is higher
than that of the stepper motors. Using DC
motor at this joint brought us a step closer to
solving the problem of insufficent torque to
carry the arm. We used a microcontroller
which provides enough pins for selecting
motors, hence eliminating the need for
decoders. From our work, we deduced that in
comparison to humans, robots can be much
stronger and are therefore able to lift heavier
very precise in their movements, reduce labor
costs, improve working conditions, reduce
material wastage and improve product
quality. This is why theyre very important in
industries because the overall objective of
industrial engineering is productivity. The
design of the robot arm was limited to four
degrees of freedom since this design allows
most of the necessary movements and keeps
the costs and the complexity of the robot
competitively. The end effector is not included
in the design because commercial available
gripper is used since it is much easier and
economical to use a commercial one than
build it.

9. References
[1] Manipulating Industrial Robots Vocabulary, International Organization for
Standardization Standard 8373, 1994.

[2] B. Siciliano, L. Villani and G. Oriolo, Robotics, Modeling, Planning and Control, Springer,
London, 2009.

[3] R. J. Wang, J. W. Zhang, et al., The Multiple-Function Intelligent Robotic Arms,

FUZZ-IEEE Journal, Korea, 20-24 August 2009

[4] microElectronika (2004). Architecture and programming of 8051 MCU (Chapter 1).

[5] Valavanis, K. P., & Saridis, G. N. (1992). Intelligent robotics. Academic Publishers.

[6] Appin Knowledge Solutions. Robotics. ISBN: 978-1-934015-02-5

[7] A. Ghosal, Robotics, Oxford, New Delhi, 2006.

[8] Brumbach ME, Clade JA (2003). Industrial Maintenance, Published by Delmar Learning.