The problem of automatic car refilling is becoming very popular and various solutions are pursued with the aim to increase people's quality of life, health and safety as well as wheeled transport eco-sustainability. Recent regulations and eco-system requirements concerning petrol vapour recovery have been briefly outlined. They addressed the study and design of the proposed petrol pump attendant robot. The implementation of this system requires only the modification of the fuel caps of present cars: vehicle manufacturers or car owners are required to change the caps, adopting a method similar to that currently used in F1 competitions. A robotic system for car petrol filling-up was presented: the refuelling isle layout architecture and its mechatronic design have been described. A six degree of freedom arm with a tubular architecture with relocated actuation equipped with specifically designed filler was designed. The functionality and ergonomics of the system have been tested by virtual mock-ups. Sustainable development issues were effectively accounted for by prudently lowering, as much as possible, the ecological impact of the filling operation and of all the corollary actions. In the future, the car refilling with new, but potentially dangerous (e.g. the hydrogen), fluids might be accomplished by robotic systems similar to the presented one, in an eco-compatible way and preserving human health. A concurrent engineering methodology jointly with the life-cycle approach was adopted for the study and evaluation of the equipment.
Safety design of a petrol pump attendant robot
Entwurf einer sicheren, roboterunterstützten Fahrzeugtankstelle
The Industrial Robot ; 32 , 5 ; 393-400
2005
8 Seiten, 7 Bilder, 1 Tabelle, 13 Quellen
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Englisch
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