About the project: The context for the project is grounded in the idea of a community owned coffee-bean sorting central, in need of having its processes (sorting and warehouse management) automated. The automation is needed in order to free up manpower, from the more repetitive an tedious tasks involve herein.
The two main processes in question are the following:
Sorting (color sorting): The beans needs to be sorted in accordance to their quality (based on their color). To replace the actual beans, we will be using a series of 3D printed pellets, in Red, Green, Blue and Yellow.
The pellets will, one by one, be placed on a conveyer-belt, which takes it under a color-sensor. When the color have been registered, the boxes – there are four boxes in total, one for each color – will then be rotated, so that the correct one is located at the end of the belt, which will then deliver the pellet into it.
A video of a real-life coffee-bean sorting robot, can be seen below:
Transportation (line-following): The sorted beans (pellets), needs to be delivered to the corresponding areas inside the centrals warehouse. The warehouse is equipped with black-lines, for the robots to navigate along. Furthermore, the robots need to be able to stop should they register an object directly in front of them, in order to avoid accidents.
A video of a real-life warehouse robot, can be seen below:
Floormat (graphical representation of the coffee-bean sorting central): The central has a designated area for the sorting to take place, as well as an adjourning warehouse with the following locations: Green, Yellow, Blue and Red.
The locations are increasingly harder to reach, and the functionality required for the robots are as following:
- Green: requires a robot which can continue straight at an intersection.
- Yellow: requires a robot which in addition, can turn right at an intersection.
- Blue: requires a robot which in addition, can turn left at an intersection.
- Red: requires a robot which in addition, can perform a u-turn at an intersection.
