Development of robotic technology applied in microbial fertilizer production lines

Previously, the research team successfully developed a model of a 6-degree-of-freedom robotic arm called SM6 that is oriented to applications in industrial production and many other fields. SM6 Robot System is the main product of the project "Completing and mastering the technology of designing and manufacturing industrial robots with 6 degrees of freedom and applying products to industrial production lines" chaired by the Institute of Mechanics, under the Program "Development of a number of high-tech industries" approved by the Prime Minister in Decision 347/QD-TTg dated February 22, 2013 assigned to the Ministry of Industry and Trade to manage. The project was accepted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on August 23, 2018.

Inheriting previous research results, from 2019-2021, a group of scientists from the Institute of Mechanics continued to carry out a research project on the development of robotic technology applied in the production line of microbial fertilizers for agriculture. During the research process, the team developed a calculation and simulation tool to optimize the previous SM6 robot in terms of process, hardware and software.

On the basis of analyzing the production process of microbial products in order to automate the process by automatic and semi-automatic production line solutions; and with the orientation of serving small, semi-automatic or fully automated production, adapting to processing capabilities in Vietnam, suitable for cost and increasing the choice of small and medium enterprises, the project focused on building and designing the stages of extracting/pouring liquid preparations into bottles, capping, labeling and placing in boxes for packaging, moving to the next stage. These operations are performed by robotic arms and are solutions that can be partially or fully integrated in a customized production line of choice.

After 3 years of implementation, the research team has achieved the following results:
●    Mastering the process of designing and manufacturing manipulators for applications in supporting industries in accordance with Vietnamese conditions, based on the actual needs of the market.
●    Serving to train scientific and technological research staff in the mechatronics industry, especially in the field of robotics.
●    With the specific product SM6 robot and the knowledge gained during the implementation of the project, the research team can completely design and manufacture robots in accordance with the specific requirements of customers.
●    Turning the software of SM6 robot into a commercial product for application in controlling other robots designed and manufactured in Vietnam.

3D CAD design model of SM6 version 2021

Photo of SM6 robot version 2021

The new contributions of the research team are the development of software algorithms, optimal mechanical design for a model of SM6 robotic arm to help develop applications for robots in the microbial fertilizer production line. SM6 robot is a sample product as a premise to study the feasibility of scaling up (mass production) to serve the needs for using robotic arms in production in Vietnam.

Translated by Phuong Huyen
Link to Vietnamese version