ASRS Project
Simulating Warehouse Inventory with the Automated Storage and Retrieval System Capstone Project.
The Automated Storage and Retrieval System, ASRS, is widely used in warehousing industries to efficiently store and retrieve materials and other necessities in a large array of inventory.
Skills
PLC Programming, ABB Robotics Programming, HMI Designing & Programming, Electrical Wiring, AutoCAD Modelling, 3D Modelling, Project Management
Timeline
December 1, 2023 to
April 20, 2024
Collaborators
Derek Chorney,
Ghanshyam Marasini,
Susan Odhiambo
Defining The Problem
My team was tasked by our client, Daniel Barret, to develop a functioning model to simulate an automated industry warehouse inventory system. The workspace had an existing IRB 140 Robot by ABB and a steel frame fitted with racks to house the materials being stored or retrieved. A 3-axis movement tray was installed on the storage frame using steel wires, frames, and motors.
The machine was connected to a 14" HMI display which was designed to control the ASRS with a user-friendly interface in mind. It is vital to have every element be quickly identified and understood by any user, indifferent of skill level. Thus, it is ideal to create a visual display that is simple yet informative to the user.
Process
My role in the team as Lead Programmer, as I have an extensive background in programming projects of different varieties as well as an excellent understanding of computer knowledge and debugging.
My teammates and I began by identifying problems and brainstorming as many solutions as we could come up with, no matter how significant one may appear over the other.
We wanted to overhaul the existing tray, gripper, storage rack, delivery station, and tray extractor designs. The original ASRS had functioning moving parts, but only aluminum trays which could not be picked up. We were looking to implement 3D printed components for the tray, grippers, and tray extractors, as these could be useful methods of prototyping the designs we came up with.
Some of the sketched out designs needed to work in conjunction with others. For instance, the first tray design would work with the first gripper and storage rack designs because the tray extended out a hook to be grabbed from above. Other tray designs may have necessitated the grippers to pick
