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Fishing is a popular leisure activity, that people of many ages and backgrounds can partake in all over the world. As a group, we will focus on the people who have trouble with operating certain objects and actions with fishing. Our team will develop an autonomous fishing robot that simplifies the fishing process by performing all tasks independently. Specifically, we are developing a robot to aid people in casting the fishing rod through multiple mechanisms through one to two actions. The casting and reel of the rod will be activated by a button and able to maneuver left and right with a joystick or controller buttons.

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To solve our problem, will we integrate three different mechanisms, all grounded to a fishing rod mount. The mount will attach to the end of a table or dock, similar to when a rod is resting on a boat. Our design will need to have two different functions, one to cast the line and one to reel it in. We will use two separate servo motors for each of these functions. The reel mechanism will resemble a four-bar linkage, with one junction grounded to the motor and one junction grounded to the reel handle. The casting mechanism will feature 2 functions, the forward-backwards whipping motion of the rod (planar motion), a 360 degree rotation of the rod to pick different areas of the water to cast. For the planar forwards/backwards whipping motion, we will use a gear train to achieve a variable speed of the forward/backwards motion coupled with a reciprocator to rotate the rod forwards and backwards. This will be detailed further in our preliminary design below. For the 360 degree rotation of the rod, we will use a slider crank connected to a servo. 

Proposed Scope of Work: 

Our proposed scope of work is to design and simulate a robotic fishing rod mechanism with a focus on the complex motion and force profiles necessary for casting. The mechanism will be capable of a controlled 360-degree rotation, emulating the natural motion of casting a line, and will include a novel linkage system to manipulate the bail for both casting and reeling. The design will need to account for the differential speeds required for the backward and forward motions of the cast, ensuring a slow preparatory draw back and a rapid, forceful forward cast. A combination of rigid and non-linear linkages will be explored to achieve the varied angular velocities needed. Analysis will be conducted on joint forces, dynamic loading, and torque requirements to support the rod during casting. Our deliverable by the end of the semester will include a comprehensive kinematic analysis, a simulation model of the casting motion, and detailed mechanical design specifications. We plan to leverage the knowledge acquired in our coursework to design a system that can be actuated with minimal user input, focusing on the mechanical complexities rather than electronic controls in this phase.

Preliminary Design Ideas: 

Our design will feature 4 different mechanisms to perform 2 different functions: Casting and Reeling. We plan to use three 360 continuous rotation servo motors, one will be used to control the Reel Mechanism and two to control the Casting mechanism. All mechanisms detailed below will be grounded to a mount for the casting rod. 

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Mechanism 1: Reeling the Line

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 Example of the Galloway Mechanism in motion (click photo to view motion):

For application purposes, we have included the following diagram to identify the inputs and outputs. 

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Mechanism 2: 360 Rod Rotation

Pictured below is the base of the robot. The rod will be mounted in the center of the circle attached by two links to a rotation servo for the 360 degrees of motion. 

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The casting motion will be generated by a combination of mechanisms. 

Mechanism 3: Casting Motion

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In order to ready the rod (move backward) and cast (whip forward) the input angular velocity to the reciprocator will need to be to be variable. This will be accomplished using a uniform angular velocity to variable angular velocity mechanism as demonstrated in the YouTube video below. The output or driven component will rotate on the same axle as the input to the reciprocator (Mechanism 3).