Touch screen and swith turning tool for the DORIS offshore monitoring robot

Abstract

This thesis covers the design of a touch screen and switch turning tool for the DORIS offshore monitoring robot. The DORIS project is a collaboration project between NMBU and UFRJ, financed by Statoil and Petrobras. The projects goal is to develop a rail guided offshore monitoring robot, which can replace humans in dangerous working conditions and supply better, more frequent and more accurate information on how a platform is operating. The project is currently in its third and last year, with a working prototype installed at the Petrobras testing facility as the final goal. If this is successful funding for a new three year period and the robot installed at an operational oil platform is the goal. Because of the harsh working conditions there are many requirements to the tool, these include the functions, build quality, compliancy and power. There are a number of different design options and methods available, and these are discussed and evaluated in order to find the best option. First of it is decided that the 6th DoF needed to turn a switch will be incorporated in the tool. Further I have chosen to combine the touch screen and switch turning tool into one combined tool. Electric stepper motors are chosen as the power source, and spur, bevel and internal ring gears are chosen as the power transmission system. When all the design choices are made the final design is done and a prototype of the tool is made using a 3D printer and some metalwork in the workshop. The tool is tested and proves to function well, but with some trouble involving the amount of torque produced compared to the theoretical number. Summarized the tool functions well, but at the moment it is too heavy for the DORIS manipulator arm which has a capacity of 250g. This means that in order for the tool to be useful the arm has to be made stronger.