Estudo e Testes Conceituais de um Sistema Automatizado para Emenda de Correias Transportadoras

: Belt conveyors play a key role in the bulk materials transportation, offering advantages such as low operating cost and safety application in a wide range of applications, including mining processes. Due to the extensive use, the belts require routine maintenance activities, which can be time consuming and present operational risks. Therefore, this paper proposes the study of a robotized solution to increase the automation degree of the steel cord conveyor belt splicing process. Concept tests are performed to validate some stages of the proposed solution, employing an ABB IRB120 manipulator arm with instrumentation and marking tools to model the belt and make reference indications. The belt dimensions are obtained through optical triangulation, using a green linear laser and a webcam coupled to the robot. The steel cables positionf inside the belt are determined using an inductive sensor. The entire system was implemented using the Robot Operating System (ROS), and the arm command using tools from ROS Industrial, MoveIt!, and the Descartes Path Planning library.