Robotics & Automation Internship

Project: AI-Powered SCARA Robot

During my project-based internship, I was tasked with leading the complete design, development, and implementation of a low-cost, AI-driven SCARA (Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm) robot. The primary objective was to create an automated solution for sorting and pick-and-place operations, specifically targeting the needs of local Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Key Responsibilities & Achievements:

• Mechanical Design: Engineered the entire mechanical structure of the 4-DOF SCARA arm in Autodesk Fusion 360. I conducted kinematic and dynamic simulations to optimize the arm's reach, payload capacity, and movement accuracy.
• Embedded Systems Development: Developed the firmware for the robot's motor control system using an STM32 microcontroller. I implemented inverse kinematics algorithms in C++ to translate Cartesian coordinates into precise joint angles for the stepper motors.
• Computer Vision Pipeline: Integrated a Raspberry Pi 5 to handle the computer vision tasks. Using Python and OpenCV, I developed a vision pipeline that could detect objects of different shapes and colors from a camera feed, calculate their centroids, and determine their orientation.
• System Integration: Successfully integrated the mechanical, electronic, and software components into a cohesive system, establishing reliable communication between the Raspberry Pi and the STM32 controller.
• Final Outcome: Delivered a functional proof-of-concept that successfully identified, picked, and sorted objects into designated zones, proving the viability of the low-cost design for industrial automation.

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