Design & analysis of a parallel drive spherical rotation mechanism for application in high tech farming robots

Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2019

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rose, JamiLynn.
Other Authors: Ian Hunter.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123269
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author Rose, JamiLynn.
author2 Ian Hunter.
author_facet Ian Hunter.
Rose, JamiLynn.
author_sort Rose, JamiLynn.
collection MIT
description Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2019
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spelling mit-1721.1/1232692019-12-14T03:02:34Z Design & analysis of a parallel drive spherical rotation mechanism for application in high tech farming robots Design and analysis of a parallel drive spherical rotation mechanism for application in high tech farming robots Rose, JamiLynn. Ian Hunter. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering Mechanical Engineering. Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2019 Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 57-59). Increasing global use of pesticides has resulted in a significant amount of pollution which continues to harm the life and ecology of our planet. This thesis proposes and investigates a mechanized alternative to chemical pesticide use which employs high tech farming robots to directly identify and eliminate harmful insects and invasive plant species in agricultural settings. We focus specifically on the design and control of a parallel drive spherical rotation mechanism capable of manipulating a miniaturized steam jet ejector along the surface of a sphere. The jet ejector is capable of shooting out a lethal high-pressure steam jet towards the targeted pest while the rotation mechanism allows for fast and precise control of the jet ejector through a full hemisphere of rotation. This is well beyond the small angle range achieved by other commonly utilized parallel drive mechanisms such as the Gough-Stewart Platform. The design of the parallel spherical rotation mechanism was inspired by a similar parallel manipulator invented by Professor Ian Hunter in 1990. The mechanism design was simplified, miniaturized, and adapted to fit the design requirements of our specific use case. The forwards kinematics of the mechanism as well as the mathematical inversion problem are analytically solved for. An alpha prototype of the device is designed, constructed, and controlled using the derived equations. Through testing the device demonstrated targeted levels of precision and repeatability. by JamiLynn Rose. S.B. S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering 2019-12-13T18:58:32Z 2019-12-13T18:58:32Z 2019 2019 Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123269 1130062633 eng MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 60 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Mechanical Engineering.
Rose, JamiLynn.
Design & analysis of a parallel drive spherical rotation mechanism for application in high tech farming robots
title Design & analysis of a parallel drive spherical rotation mechanism for application in high tech farming robots
title_full Design & analysis of a parallel drive spherical rotation mechanism for application in high tech farming robots
title_fullStr Design & analysis of a parallel drive spherical rotation mechanism for application in high tech farming robots
title_full_unstemmed Design & analysis of a parallel drive spherical rotation mechanism for application in high tech farming robots
title_short Design & analysis of a parallel drive spherical rotation mechanism for application in high tech farming robots
title_sort design analysis of a parallel drive spherical rotation mechanism for application in high tech farming robots
topic Mechanical Engineering.
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123269
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AT rosejamilynn designandanalysisofaparalleldrivesphericalrotationmechanismforapplicationinhightechfarmingrobots