ISEP - DM – Engenharia Mecânica
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Browsing ISEP - DM – Engenharia Mecânica by advisor "Barbosa, Flávia Vieira"
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- EcoGrip: Developing sustainable gripper solutions for collaborative roboticsPublication . SOUSA, BRUNO MIGUEL PINTO DE; Campilho, Raul Duarte Salgueiral Gomes; Barbosa, Flávia VieiraWith the intensification of competition across industries, companies are increasingly adopting strategies to secure a competitive advantage. One such approach is the growing integration of robots into factories to optimize operations and enhance efficiency. However, this shift also results in workforce reductions. For that reason, organizations and policy makers are increasingly tasked with balancing technological advancement and the preservation of employment opportunities. This practice has led to the adoption of collaborative robots, and the development of robotic grippers for collaborative applications which are designed with safety in mind. On the other hand, a completely different topic that influences gripper design is the European Union’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. This regulation aims to reduce the environmental impact of products during the entirety of its lifecycle. Together, the need to enhance gripper safety for collaborative operations and the imperative to reduce their environmental impact have resulted in the demand for a new approach to the gripper development process. With this goal in mind, the objective of this dissertation is to create a methodology for the development of a collaborative robotic gripper that integrates Ecodesign principles to be employed in a practical use case. This use case proposes the creation of a vacuum based collaborative robotic gripper with four suction cups, capable of handling boxes of up to 10 kg with both 150 and 550 mm edge size. To have this capability, the gripper must be adjustable in the X-axis. In regard to weight, the gripper should weigh less than 1.5 kg and be fabricated using acrylonitrile styrene acrylate or polylactic acid. An important design characteristic was that access to the internal components of the gripper should be simple. Through the study of peer-reviewed scientific papers and also an analysis of existing gripper engineering solutions, the new methodological approach for gripper development was formulated. It encompasses six phases: Product planning, Product concept, Product architecture, Product detail, Product Prototyping, and Product testing and improvement. During the course of this work, a model is conceptualized that responds to the use case, safety, and Ecodesign requirements. The developed design is validated through numerical simulations. After validation, a physical prototype is fabricated and tested using additive manufacturing to assess its functionality and performance. The results of these tests also resulted in the creation of an improved prototype. The developed prototype was validated as a proof-of-concept, which demonstrated that Ecodesign requirements could be fully integrated into the gripper development process without compromising functionality or safety.
- Product optimization using decision support toolsPublication . RAMALHO, RITA MOREIRA; Campilho, Raul Duarte Salgueiral Gomes; Barbosa, Flávia VieiraThe transition to a circular economy is currently a strategic priority in various industrial sectors, with the aim of increasing resource efficiency, reducing environmental impact, and extending product life cycles. However, the practical application of circularity principles to the redesign of existing industrial equipment remains a significant challenge. A review of the state of the art revealed an important gap: the lack of structured and integrative frameworks that guide product development and optimization, reconciling environmental, functional, and economic criteria. In this context, this work aims to develop and apply a circularity framework to support the redesign process of existing industrial equipment, specifically a stone cutting machine. The proposed framework is based on Lean Design-for-X principles and consolidated product engineering practices, combining digital tools, namely Solidworks and its simulation and sustainability modules, technical approaches gathered from the literature, and quantitative criteria for assessing structural, environmental, and economic performance. The methodology adopted followed an iterative approach, based on computer-aided engineering analyses and finite element simulations, applied to the redesign of two critical structural components, the vertical supports and longitudinal beam. Several geometric and material alternatives were studied and designed aiming to improve stress distribution, reduce total mass, lower manufacturing costs, and minimize the environmental footprint, while ensuring that the company's functional requirements were met, namely structural integrity, displacement limits, and production feasibility. The results obtained demonstrated that the application of the framework allowed balanced solutions to be achieved, integrating structural performance, sustainability, and comparative analysis of material costs. The final selection of configurations resulted directly from the framework-guided process, which provided clear criteria for evaluating the different alternatives in relation to the project objectives. Both the longitudinal beam and the vertical supports were optimized to ensure structural robustness and production efficiency, exploring more sustainable material options and proposals to improve the energy efficiency of the equipment, while remaining within the functionality and manufacturing parameters stipulated by the company. This research thus validated the practical applicability of the proposed framework and confirmed its usefulness as a tool to support the development of more circular and sustainable solutions, also contributing to increasing the competitiveness of products in the market by assisting, from the design and conception phase, in the creation of efficient solutions aligned with current environmental and economic requirements. In practical terms, the requirements initially defined by the company were met, including aspects related to structural performance, reduction of environmental impacts, and cost containment. In addition, the framework has broad potential for application to other types of equipment and industrial sectors, enabling companies to implement circular economy strategies from the early stages of design and redesign.