Initial Design
Figure 1 depicts the kinematic diagram of our initial idea. The mechanism consists of two robotic arms grounded to a board. The three bar mechanism has an end effector that will grip the avocado. The end effector will be able to rotate the avocado about the x-axis and the upper link (link 1) of the arm will be able to rotate about the y-axis. While holding a knife at the end effector, the 5 bar mechanism will be able to perform three motions. Links 6 and 7 will be able to rotate about the z-axis with angles θ6 and θ7, respectively. Link 4 will be able to rotate about the x-axis. This link will be fixed to link 5, allowing the entire arm to move along the z-axis.
Figure 1: Initial design sketches
We quickly changed the design in order to be appropriate for the class. The desire for the class was a closed chain kinematic system while our initial design was two open chain robotic arms.