X-Y table motion options

Other Hardware Robotics
1

Hello - I have a bottling machine at work. It is a simple pump speed and timer machine. We use it to fill 1 oz and 4 oz bottles of a lubricant called CorrosionX. The bottler can either be put in automatic control with a programmed amount of time between fills or it can be put in manual mode where a peddle or switch triggers the next fill. I am thinking about setting up an x-y table that we would place the bottle on in known positions. We would need basically two programs one for each bottle size.

So I have a few questions that I thought your experiences would give me valuable input:

  1. Would you create an z-y table that moves the bottles and the bottling head similar to some 3d printing machine or an x-y arm that are used for drawing but in this case the pen would be the filling nozzle?

  2. would you just program the motion right into the Arduino maybe with a toggle switch for the two different bottles or would you use something like grbl firmware. Since the Arduino only needs to know two motions, one for each bottle size, would g-code be over kill? Are their other advantages of grbl such as acceleration control? The only g-code i have used has been created by slicing programs.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Anthony

2

I think I would go with xy. You could have a plate with holes to mount the bottles and some tabs to ensure it is held in a known position.

The plate for one ounce bottles would be taller so that the head wouldn't need to move in the Z direction.

I wouldn't bother with G-code since there will only be two sets of movements and the Arduino can figure it out by itself.

3

Thank you. I like the two different fixture heights also. I was going to move the z with a manual screw but that idea is better.