[gmarquez04]

Hello everyone, I am new to this site, I have been lingering for the past couple of weeks but this is my first post. I am designing a Gantry robot which will be capable of moving on 2 axises (X and Y). The robot needs to be controlled using a computer program. The GUI needs to be fairly simple. Essentially what will happen is the user will enter a command such as connect A to B. The robot will then move to location A and turn a knob then move to location B and turn another knob. I have done some research and have decided that I will need 2 stepper motors (1 per axis. I will also need to build the gantry system and the belt/gear system which connects the motors to the gantry. My questions are:
1. What do I need to control the stepper motors (Driver, translator, power supply etc)?
2. Once I have the components to control the motors how do I create or what program do I use to control the system using a computer?
3. What is the best way to "turn" the knobs...Is there a robot arm that i can attach to the gantry which will move up and down, and twist the knob?
4.Are ther companies that offer combo packages (i.e motor, driver, and program all-in-one)?
5. Where can I get parts for the gantry?

I want this to be as painless as possible, I want to stay away from having to manufacture my own parts. I would like to buy as many parts form one vendor as possible, just to keep everythig compatible. The motors need to move about 1-2 ft. in each direction (X and Y). Therefore the gantry needs to be about a 2 ft x 2 ft. Also the stepper motor need to have at least 2 N*m torque capacity. I know these are alot of questions, but any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[arvidb]

That's quite a lot of torque (not unreasonable though). How did you arrive at that figure?

A problem with steppers is that the "name plate" torque is the holding torque, i.e. the torque at standstill. It drops off quickly with increased RPM (compared to a DC or AC motor). You will have to look at the motor data sheet speed-torque curve to see that it still has the required torque at the speed you want to use.

Arvid

[buscht]

Sure, there are companies that will build the whole thing for you, or at least you can get matched components.

Check out http://www.techno-isel.com/ They could do the whole thing for about $20,000.

[ynneb]

I would use 4 steppers. One for each axis x,y,z,a
x and y would position the gantry over the knobs to be turned, z would lower the "a" stepper over the knob to be turned, and "a" would do the turning.

You could use a program like mach2 and make up some custom gcode.

Will the knobs be in the same position all the time or does the machine require sight?
If it needs sight then I dont know the answer.

I presume you have a series of knobs to be turned. Will those knobs be conveyerd to the machine? If so then you may have to think about the "X" axis and maybe have that as a conveyer instead of moving the ganrty itself. When the part arrives into position it could break a laser beam to then start the turning process.

Maybe if you gave us a more detailed description of exaclty what you want to do, we could help even further and more accurately.

[trubleshtr]

If it requires sight, you will need to use a PLC and sensors to detect the prescence of knobs and their location.