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Design Change Implemented: The mechanical indexer has been switched from operating on 80/20 rail to a rolling element slider, solving the problem of jamming when cups are outside of +/- 0.5 inches in the x axis.
*The image on the left displayed the different Axes referenced with respect to the reference frame of a plant on a hydroponic vine*
Full Solidworks CAD assembly of the cleaning robot, excluding an interface with the vertical screw driven actuator. There were a few design changes implemented after this screenshot, including a rolling element slider mentioned above as well as a redesigned pushing arm with a better contact surface for post-harvested plant.
This picture was taken during the first fully integrated test of the cleaning robot. It successfully cleaned an entire vine of plants when positioned within +/- 0.5 inches in the X axis (see reference picture above to see X axis). The speed achieved in this test was 10.5 seconds per cup, operating at about 70% of the potential speed the robot could achieve. The test was very promising because it proved that automated cleaning is possible using simple robotic systems.
The final iteration of the grabbing arms are manufactured using FormLabs "Tough 2000" resin. The picture on the right shows the arms curing at 60C for 1 hour in order to increase the stiffness of the material. This was the ideal material selction because the arms were strong and could resist vertical bending moment (x axis bending) but could still bend and flex when bending about their y axis. This is very important because the arms have to be able to interfere with hydroponic vines without damaging them while not breaking themselves.
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