A Remote Controlled Robotic Arm That Reads Barcodes and Handles Products

Abstract

In this study, a 6-axis robotic arm, which was controlled by an embedded Raspberry Pi with onboard WiFi, was developed and fabricated. A mobile application (APP), designed for the purpose, was used to operate and monitor a robotic arm by means of a WiFi connection. A computer vision was used to read common one-dimensional barcode (EAN code) for the handling and identification of products such as milk tea drinks, sodas and biscuits. The gripper on the end of the arm could sense the clamping force and allowed real-time control of the amount of force used to hold and handle the products. The packages were all made of different material and this control allowed them to be handled without danger of damage or deformation. The maximum handling torque used was ~1.08 Nm and the mechanical design allowed the force of the gripper to be uniformly applied to the sensor to ensure accurate measurement of the force.