Project Objectives
High Priority Objectives
Design and testing of electromechanical gripper
Second Priority Objectives
Design and testing of electromechanical support for gripper
Other Constraints and Issues
Existing apparatus that limit mobility of support and gripper
WOW Design Solution
The ideal design for this pick-and-place gripper would allow for the automation of several steps in the solar cell manufacturing process.
This would include grabbing clean substrates from a removable locker and placing them on the spin coater in the center of rotation, grabbing
the spin coated substrate after deposition and placing on hotplate for annealing, and placing the product in a storage locker.
Risk Reduction Strategy
The risk reduction will focus on the ability of the gripper to grab and transfer the glass substrates. As such, we are concerned with:
The pressure/force that the glass substrates can withstand from the gripper
The precision and amount of friction required to successfully translate the slides in any direction
Intermediate Milestones
The largest milestone for this project concerns the reliability of the gripper mechanism. Before placing focus on aspects such as the integration of the spin coater, we need to be sure that the gripper works as intended.