Design and Fabrication of a Mini Conveyor and Automatic Hand-Picking System for Engineering Education Demonstration

Abstract

This study presents the design and fabrication of a lab-scale mini conveyor and automatic hand-picking system, developed for demonstrating material handling and unit load transfer in an educational setting. The system integrates a miniaturized flat belt conveyor and a robotic arm, each powered by servo motors and a stepper motor, respectively, with control managed by an Arduino microcontroller. A Bluetooth module enables wireless communication, facilitating remote control of the system. The system demonstrated effective voltage regulation during PWM testing, with the Arduino output voltage rising from 0.95V to 4.84V as the PWM duty cycle increased from 80 to 255, ensuring efficient motor driver performance. Additionally, the repeatability testing revealed minimal errors in movement, with a slight increase in repeatability error of just 0.0008 mm between 0kg and 2.5 kg and an additional 0.0002 mm from 2.5 kg to 5.0 kg, confirming the system's high precision. The device achieved 70% overall accuracy in material handling tasks and successfully integrated the HC-05 Bluetooth module for real-time control. This system serves as an educational tool for engineering students, offering hands-on experience with robotics arms and conveyors, advancing material handling demonstrations.