Design and development of a low-cost 5-DOF robotic arm for lightweight material handling and sorting applications: A case study for small manufacturing industries of Pakistan

Due to the ever-increasing demand for higher production rates and the shortage of skilled labor in small industries, material handling, and sorting have become extremely tedious and challenging. Industrial automation-led effective material-handling solutions like robotic arms have gained immense importance as they provide an alternative to human involvement, contribute to higher sorting accuracy, and provide enhanced safety. However, the adaptability of these robotic arms in small manufacturing industries in Pakistan is mainly hindered due to their higher costs and concerns with their structural durability. This paper presents the development of a low-cost 5-DOF robotic arm with a designed payload limit of 1 kg and automatically sorts objects fed through a conveyer belt. Catering to the compact sizing, high strength, and lower payload requirements of small industries, aluminum was selected as the material of the robotic arm due to its superior strength-to-weight ratio while being lightweight. Arm geometry was developed using SOLIDWORKS® software, which was further processed in ANSYS® software to perform the static structural analysis of the robotic arm using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The fine meshing of the robotic arm assembly was done using triangular elements with the total number of elements and total nodes 52134 and 89104, respectively. A single point load was applied on the end effector, and the force was kept downward with an incremental loading of 1 kg starting from 100 g. These FEA simulations show that the robotic arm can hoist considerable weight while maintaining its structural integrity and directionality. The proposed robotic arm is also well-suited for manipulating objects in tight spaces due to its compact size and customizable range of motion, making it an ideal choice for applications that require precise manipulation of light loads.