The fourth industrial revolution, as many in our time choose to describe it, is a constant development, and it observes how several of the industry's as well as everyday processes are automated. One of the many benefits of automation is obviously to eliminating the errors that happens in the manual process with an ordinary human worker. With this in mind, robots are now being designed and built for all sorts of different purposes. Even a task as simple as drawing can be automated to avoid the biggest errors and thus create a precise physical recreation of a given digital image. This is exactly what the following report is about; As a part of the robotics technology engineering bachelor education, the first semester project is about programming a 3-axis drawing robot that can scan any digital image, analyze each pixel, and reproduce the image with a pencil on paper. In the first part of the report, the physical elements of the robot are described, in addition the 3 sub-elements of the software - the Java, socket and PLC programs - which are relevant to understand as well as the functions of the robot. This is followed by a system test, where the drawing robot is tested, and finally a summarizing conclusion and discussion: which collects the report's most important points and results, advantages / disadvantages, and suggestions for how individual elements or problems could be optimized.
First of all, this report will introduce the theory fundamental to creating and understanding a 3-axis drawing robot. In addition, it shall be presented how one might program a PLC to draw pictures that are processed and instructionalized from a Java program through a socket using TCP/IP. Furthermore, grayscaling will be unraveled as the main course of action to convert an image into coordinates, which can then be adapted to be interpreted by the PLC to compose breathtaking drawings, utillizing pencil and paper.
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Thereafter, the programming language of Java, along with the basic knowledge surrounding it, shall be explained, and accordingly the details about how Java stands imperative to the attainment of the projects purpose will be distinguished. Furthermore, the analysis of the concept TCP/IP implying the communication between different individual systems capable of connecting to the internet will thus including a description of the approach in setting up a socket. Moreover, in depth explanations on PLC and the term structured text will be provided, preeminently how they were of vital importance to enhance the final solution to this project.
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Finally, the report further contains a chapter unveiling logic gates regarding basic theory, utilization of a statemachine and its involvement in a functional drawing robot. Possible improvements as well as thoughts on choices made throughout the process of effectuating a solution may be shared, debunked and evaluated. The entire project shall certainly culminate in a summarized conclusion on the coalescence of Java, PLC and TCP/IP, the three main segments embodying the objective of this project, moreover a final conclusion on the project course itself and viability hereof.
The socket and TCP/IP communication has proven to be crucial for the function of the robot, as this element is vital for the robot's ability to draw the physical copy of the digital image. The PLC part and the Java part are also extremely essential, but these were found to be more optimization-friendly in the sense that improvements or changes could be implemented, from which, the Java pixel analysis and the quality of the drawing, for example, could be achieved. Despite various challenges, such as the choice of the method of drawing, obstacles such as limitation of the PLC's memory and communication between Java and PLC, the drawing robot has been successfully brought to life through programming. Using Java, it became possible to upload and load information from a digital image and with image processing using pixel analysis and grayscale. Then, x, y, z coordinate sets are further utilized by the drawing robot to draw the final physical image. Finally, it can finally be concluded that with this project, a method that is - while unoptimal - then at least functional and usable, has been successfully developed for processing and converting a digital image into a physical drawing based on programming a 3-axis CNC-type robot.