AUTOMATIC MATERIAL HANDLING ROBOT (AMHR)

Automatic Material Handling Robot (AMHR) was designed and fabricated which can be used in industrial applications to move materials around a manufacturing facility or warehouse. The reason is to overcome the logistic problems that often occurs in the workplaces and to make improvement to the facilities provided in the workplaces. In the industries or factories, the AMHR can ease the physical strain on human workers by performing tiring tasks, such as lifting and carrying heavy materials, more efficiently with no signs of fatigue creeping in. This Vehicle can be used to transport many different types of material including pallets, rolls, racks, carts, and containers. It excels in applications as repetitive movement of materials over a distance, regular delivery of stable loads, Medium throughput/volume, when on-time delivery is critical and late deliveries are causing inefficiency, operations with at least two shifts, etc. The Transporter uses 7 DC motors for its working. There are 4 motors which are attached to the base which helps in locomotion using skid steering. The other three motors help in grabbing the trolley and keeping it in place. The motors are controlled using a smartphone which uses Bluetooth communication for sending data to the robot. An array of photodiodes helps in detecting the contrast and acts as a line following sensor. As soon as a junction is detected the sensors send values to microcontroller and the microcontroller stops the base motors and sends signal to linear actuator and motor attached to lead screw to actuate and go front then it sends value to gripper to grab the trolley and then it actuates the linear actuator and lead screw back to its position and then sends signal to base motors to go forward. Material Handling equipment can tow objects behind them in trailers to which they can autonomously attach. The trailers can be used to move raw materials or finished product. The Material Handling equipment can also store objects on a bed. The objects can be placed on a set of motorized rollers (conveyor) and then pushed off by reversing them. Material Handling equipment is employed in nearly every industry, including pulp, paper, metals, newspaper, and general manufacturing. Transporting materials such as food, linen or medicine in hospitals is also done. In this case, the AMHR is loaded with products destined for specific destinations along the guide path route. It will make several stops in order for the product to be unloaded at the correct locations. It becomes a very efficient method and can usually be justified easily based on the elimination of fork trucks or manual trains and operators. A project by Naman Garg, Ankit Chakraborty & Tanmay Gangani from Vellore Institute of Technology.