I-004

ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPLIANT GRASPING MECHANISM FOR ON-LINE HANDLING OF LIVE OBJECTS
PART I: ANALYTICAL MODEL

Authors: Kok-Meng Lee, Ph.D.
Affiliation: George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Abstract
This paper presents the design, modeling and analysis of a novel compliant mechanism for automating the process of transferring live objects from a moving conveyor to a moving processing line. Unlike industrial man-made objects, natural objects are typically characterized by varying sizes and shapes in batch processing and their natural reflexes (or voluntarily motion) contribute to the overall dynamics. The dynamic model of the manipulating system consists of two parts; namely, the forces acting on the object and the natural reflexes of the live object to the manipulation. In Part I, an analytical model is presented to predict the forces/moments acting on the live objects. Part II describes the design and development of an experimental setup and the experimental investigation of live broilers' natural reflexes to mechanical singulation, and evaluates the ability of the compliant grasping mechanism for handling live broilers.

Kok-Meng Lee, Ph.D.
George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA 30332-0405
Tel: (404)894-7402
Fax: (404)894-9342
kokmeng.lee@me.gatech.edu

AIM'99 website - http://www.me.gatech.edu/AIM99/