Volume 4, Issue 6, June – 2019 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology

ISSN No:-2456-2165

Pick and Place Robot Arm for Metal and

Non-Metal Detection
Zaw Min Oo Kyi Zar Aung Aung Thike
Professor Professor Lecturer
Department of Mechatronic Department of Mechatronic Department of Mechatronic
Engineering Engineering Engineering
Technological University (Thanlyin) Technological University (Thanlyin) Technological University (Thanlyin)
Myanmar Myanmar Myanmar

Abstract:- The pick and place robot is one of the robot providing motions in horizontal, vertical and rotational
technologies in manufacturing industries which is axes, a spherical robot providing two rotational and one
designed to perform pick and place operation. This linear movement, an articular robot or a SCARA (fixed
system is a robot manipulator to pick metal and place it robots with three vertical axes rotary arms) [6], [7].
defined position and to pick non-metal and place it Nowadays pick and place robots are important for human
defined position. The system is designed that it society. Many pick and place robots are used in different
eliminates to human error and human intervention to fields for different aims such as medical support, military
get more precise work. Inductive sensor is used to detect defenses and even space exploration [8].
metal or nonmetal. IR sensor is used to detect that the
object present to pick. Arduino Uno is used to control II. METHODOLOGY FOR METAL AND NON-
the system. Stepper motors are used as actuators and METAL DETECTION WITH PICK AND
Easy Drivers are used to drive the actuators. The PLACE ROBOT ARM
control system need 5 V power supply and drive system
needs 12 V power as minimum. This manipulator is Nowadays, pick and place robot arm is applied to
made up of aluminum. The link connections are helped industrial applications. Methodology for pick and place
by bearing. The ball bearing is used at base. The control robot arm can be provided by block diagram describe as
method is very easy. In this system, the hardware is below.
emphasized.
Motor Base
Keywords:- Arduino, Metal and Non-Metal, Robot Arm,
Stepper Motors. IR Sensor Driver Motor

I. INTRODUCTION
Motor Shoulder
Controller
Driver Motor
Since many years ago, people try to replace human Inductive
works with machines. A machine use power to apply forces Sensor Motor Elbow
and control movement to perform an intended action. Driver Motor
Machine can drive by animals and people, by natural forces
Fig 1:- Block Diagram for Metal/Non-metal Detecting with
such as wind, water, chemical, thermal and electrical power.
Pick and Place Robot Arm
And then human try to place intelligence for machine to
perform repeatedly job instead of human [9]. A machine is a
In figure 1, block diagram of the metal/non-metal
capable of carrying out of complex series of actions
detection with pick and place robot arm is described. Power
automatically, especially one programmable by a computer
supply is the main power source of the system to provide 5
[10].
V DC to Arduino Uno. Infrared sensor is used to detect the
object present or absent in desired position. To sense the
Pick and place robot arm is used for object sorting
metallic object, inductive sensor is applied in the system.
system in [1]. Kinematic analysis, Microcontroller, servo
These sensors are analog sensors and they are connected to
motors, Robot arm, sorting system are studied in this
the analog pins of Arduino. This system consists of three
research. Smart grid monitoring is used for pick and place
stepper motors which are driven by three easy motor drivers
robot in research of Dr. P. Gomathi [3]. Several application
to get the require ampere.
of pick and place robot arm is used in many research works
[2], [3], [4]. End-effector analyses can studies in paper of
Jolly shah [5].

A robot is a machine designed to execute one or more

tasks automatically with speed and precision. Pick and place
robot is a robot arm which is used to pick an object and
place it in the specified location [2]. It can be a cylindrical

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Volume 4, Issue 6, June – 2019 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
III. CONPONENTS SELECTION

In pick and place robot arm to detect metal/non-metal,

many electronic equipment are selected. They are Arduino
Uno, easy motor driver, stepper motor, infrared sensor,
inductive proximity sensor.

A. Arduino Uno
A microcontroller is a high integrated functional
computer system on a chip. It is contained an integrated
memory and programmable input/output peripherals.
Fig 3:- Easy Driver Stepper Motor Drive
The Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board based on
the ATmega328. It has 14 digital input/output pins (of C. Stepper Motor
which six can be used as PWM outputs), six analog inputs, a A stepper motor is a type of DC motor that works in
16 MHz crystal oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack, discrete steps. It is a synchronous brushless motor where a
an ICSP header and a reset button. The Arduino Uno can be full rotation is divided into a number of steps. The rotor is
powered via the USB connection or with an external power the rotating shaft and the stator consists of electromagnets
supply. The power source is selected automatically. External that form the stationary part of the motor.
(non-USB) can come either from an AC to DC adapter or
battery. The board can operate an external supply of 6 to 20
volts, if supply with less than 7 V, however, the 5 V pin may
supply less than five volts and the board may be unstable. If
using more than 12 V, the voltage regulator may overheat
and damage the board. The recommended range is 7 to 12
volts [11].

Fig 4:- Construction of Stepper Motor

Stepper motors are a class of widely used engines in

many applications such as 3D printers. They are also widely
used in robotics. They convert an electrical pulse in a
defined angular movement called steps. The stepper motors
do not require feedback loop to ensure precise movement.

D. IR Sensor (Infrared Radiation Sensor)

Fig 2:- Construction of Arduino Uno

B. Easy Driver Stepper Motor Driver

The Easy Driver stepper motor driver is a simple to use
stepper motor driver, compatible with anything that can
output a digital 0 to 5 V pulse. Easy Driver requires a 6 V
to 30 V supply to power the motor and can power any
voltage of stepper motor. The Easy Driver has an on board
voltage regulator for the digital interface that can be set to 5
V or 3.3 V. Connect a four wire stepper motor and a
microcontroller. Easy Driver drives bipolar motors, and
motors wired as bipolar (i.e. four, six, or eight wire stepper Fig 5:- IR Sensor
motors).
To receive desired objects in desired direction, an IR
sensor is used in pick and place robot arm. IR sensor is
worked with one, zero signal. It has two LED; infrared
transmitter LED and IR receiver LED. IR transmitter LED
produces infrared ray to IR receiver LED. Therefore, IR
sensor is used for detecting object to start the robot program.

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Volume 4, Issue 6, June – 2019 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
If IR sensor detects the object, signal LED on. And then l3
sends the signal to Arduino Uno. IR LED will be zH
y3
continuously transmitted whenever an object appears IR l2
light is reflected back and this is sensed by a sensor which in q3
turn signals Arduino Uno to take necessary action. y2 x3 xH
z3
E. Inductive Proximity Sensor q2
x2
z2
l1
q1 z1

y1 x1
Fig 8:- Reference Frame of Robot Arm

 Research Calculation of Robot Arm

Fig 6:- Inductive Proximity Sensor
Link i di i qi ai
Inductive proximity sensor uses to detect metallic 1 l1 90 qi 0
object. Inductive sensor operates under the electrical 2 0 0 qi l2
principle of inductance, where a fluctuating current induces 3 0 0 qi l3
an electromotive force (emf) in target object. Inductive
Table 1:- D-H Parameters used in Calculated Design
sensor uses the oscillator circuit to generate a high
frequency electromagnetic field.
qi = A rotation about the z-axis
di = The distance on the z-axis
IV. HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
IMPLEMENTATION i = The angle between two successive z-axes (Joint twist)
ai = The length of each common normal (Joint offset)
This pick and place robot is a robot arm which is used
to pick up the metal or non-metal object and place it in the  Forward Kinematic Analysis
specified location. This robot arm can be a cylindrical robot The forward kinematic equation of the robot can be
make available for movement in horizontal, vertical and found by substituting these parameters in to the
rotational axes. corresponding matrices as following steps. The matrix of
transformation can be established from the relation between
successive frame i to i+1.
Lower
Arm Upper
Arm The rotation and translation of robot arm matrix is
i
Ai+1=H(z,θi). Htran(0,0,di). Htran(ai,0,0).H(x,αi)

cos q i  cos  i sin q i sin  i cos q i ai cos q i 

 sin q cos q i cos  i  cos q i sin  i ai sin q i 
i
Ai 1  i

 0 sin  i cos  i di 
 
End- Base  0 0 0 1 
Effector
And then, the individual transformation matrices for i
=1, 2 and 3 can be easily calculated. Thereafter, the total
transformation 1H4 is obtained from:
Fig 7:- Robot Arm Design Layout
1
H4 = 1A2 2A3 3A4=[dx dy dz]T
The basic task of a pick and place robot arm is done by
its joints. Joints are analogous to human joints and are used Analytically from forward kinematic method, position
to join the two consecutive rigid bodies in the robot. This of the robot gripper will obtain:
robot arm can be rotary joints.
dx=cos(q1)((l3(cos(q2+q3))+l2cos(q2))
dy=sin(q1)((l3(cos(q2+q3))+l2cos(q2))
dz=l1+l3(sin(q2+q3))+l2sin(q2))

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Volume 4, Issue 6, June – 2019 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
 Inverse Kinematic Analysis The figure 9 shows the complete circuit design of
There are two solutions approaches namely, geometric metal/non-metal detection with pick and place robot arm.
and algebraic used for deriving the inverse kinematics The full system was controlled by using stepper motors. The
solution, analytically. There are three nonlinear equations stepper motors are used in robotics. The stepper motor is
with three unknowns to calculate the inverse kinematic. four wires and the control signal of stepper motor is
Solving these equations algebraically, requires that to know connected to the microcontroller. In this circuit design there
the joint variables (θ1, θ2 , θ3 ) for a given griper position are three motors out of which two motors are for robotic
(dx, dy, dz) are needed. Above equations (1) to (3), by movement forward and backward, left, right and rest one
dividing, squaring, adding and using some trigonometric motor are independently controlled for certain movement
formulas: like hand movement or which can be used as a pick and
place arrangement.
q1=atan2(dy,dx)
cosq3=(dx2+dy2+dz2-a22-a32)/2a2a3  Process Flow Chart
sinq3=(1-cosq32) An overview of the metal/ non-metal detection with
q2=atan2(dz,(dx2+dy2))-atan2(a3cosq3,a2+a3cosq3) picks and place robot arm behaviors is as follows. At the
q3=atan2(sinq3,cosq3) start, the robot is in home position when power is supplied.
After that, IR sensor will detect the object. If the object is
 Overall Circuit Diagram presented in desired location, the proximity sensor will
continue detect the object is metal or non-metal.

There are two conditions in this stage. The robot picks

up the object and place in each desired position. And then,
B2
B2
B2

robot will stay at home position until the sensor detects the
Lower
Upper

Base

object. Otherwise, the program will end or power off.

B1
B1
B1

A2
A1
A2
A1
A2
A1

Start
PWR
GN
A1

B1
A2

B2
PWR
GN
A1

B1
A2

B2
PWR
GN
B1
A1

B2
A2

Easy Driver Easy Driver

Easy Driver

Home position
Step
Step

GN
Step

dir
GN

dir
GN

dir

Object Test
D12/ MISO
D13/SCK
D10 PWM/SS
D11 PWM/MOSI
D8
D7

D9 PWM
D5 PWM
D0/RX

D6 PWM
D1/TX

D3 PWM
D4
D2

VIN Arduino Uno GND

5V Detect Metal
3V3
A4/SDA
RESET2

A5/SCL
RESET

AREF
ioref

N/C
A3
A2
A1
A0

Pick the metal Pick the non-metal

place it defined place it defined
1uF

VDD

VDD

GND
OUT

IR sensor OUT
GND

position position
1uF

Inductive
220Ω

sensor
3
2

7805
317

5kΩ

End
2

Fig 10:- Process Flow Chart

3

1
100 uF

100 uF

V. TEST AND RESULTS

IR sensor and inductive sensor use to receive the real

time process of information from signal receiver such as
sensors. In real time, block place in desired direction; it may
be metal block or non-mental block. When power energizes,
the IR sensor senses the desired location to check the block.
If the controller gets signal from IR sensor detection, the
program will start automatically. The end effector will lift
AC AC the block and simultaneously the inductive proximity sensor
Fig 9:- Overall Circuit Diagram will sense.

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Volume 4, Issue 6, June – 2019 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
The stepper motor will rotate slowly and steady to get In figure 13, overall circuit system is shown. In this
right moving for desired directions. One stepper motor is circuit, three motor drivers are connected to Arduino Uno
controlled by each easy driver. Arduino Uno will control the and the stepper motor is joined to motor driver to get the
easy driver with correct information and two directions are required ampere.
selected to drop the block. After testing block with
proximity sensor, the end effector will drop the block in
right place. Precise controls depend on suitable measure
action between joints, stepper motors and end effector by
robot arm.

Fig. 14 Testing of Robot Arm

Fig 11:- Testing IR Sensors
Figure 14 is shown the testing of the base, upper and
In figure 11, IR sensor testing is shown. When IR lower arms. The base is worked when the center stepper
sensor is testing, the output is resulted from stepper motor. motor is running.
The main power source is supplied to the Arduino Uno.
VI. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

There are many designs for pick and place robot arm.
Some designs involve grippers to pick and place. Some
designs do not involve gripper but end effector involves to
pick and place the object. In this pick and place robot arm
design, there is no gripper but end effector involves to pick
and place.

To make the link of the robot arm, various types of

materials can be chosen according to the design. Some links
are made with fiber, iron, acrylic or aluminum. In this pick
and place robot arm design, aluminum material is chosen to
make the link of the robot. The properties of aluminum are
Fig 12:- Testing Inductive Sensors suitable for this desired robot arm. The properties of
aluminum are light weight, corrosion resistance, and
Figure 12 is represented the inductive sensor testing. electrical, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity, ductility,
Inductive sensor is used to detect the metal/non-metal in this impermeable and odorless. Another reason for choosing the
system. The required power is supported by Arduino Uno to aluminum is to install bearings at every joint.
the Inductive sensor.
Actuators to drive the robot arm are motors. Some
robot uses servo motor to drive the robot arm. Some robot
uses stepper motor or DC motor with encoder. In this
design, stepper motors are chosen to drive the system
because the control program is written with steps to reach
desired position. Firstly, the desired links and joints are
drawn and simulated in the MasterCam software. And then
the desired links and joints are cut on the CNC milling
machine. The time is taken to install mechanical parts such
as bearing, links and joints. As the aluminum material is
used, the hardware is powerful in this project. The useful of
ball-bearing was known to increase the torque of motor.
Hardware is constructed to emphasize manipulator.
Fig 13:- PCB for Overall System

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Volume 4, Issue 6, June – 2019 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
REFERENCES

[1]. Khin Moe Myint, “Position Control Method for Pick

And Place Robot Arm for Object Sorting System,”
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Application”, IJMET, vol. 9, Issue 1, 2018, pp. 125–
133.
[3]. Dr.P.Gomathi, “Design and Implementation of Pick
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Monitoring”, IJAIST, vol.6, no.9, 2017, pp. 18-22.
[4]. Bin L., “Kinematics and Optimal Design of a Novel 3-
DoF Parallel Manipulator for Pick-and-Place
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[5]. Jolly Shah, “End-Effector Position Analysis Using
Forward Kinematics for 5DOF Pravak Robot Arm”,
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