Proceedings of The

IEEE International Conference

on Industrial Technology, 1996

USE OF RIULTIR4EDIA TECHNOLOGY IN

PRE-STIJDTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROJECT*
HUANG YUJUN

DENG JIANYI

CHEN JIANPING

Sliangliai Jiao Tong Univcrsity, Rescarch Institute of Robotics

Shanghai 200030 China
Abstract In recent years coniputcr multiiiicdia tcclinology IS
changing with cacli passing day. It has bccii utilized in
education, amusement, publication and tclevision and so on.
In this papcr some exploring at tlie pre-study of nicclianical
erigineeriiig pro-iect is made by thc cMect of niuilimcdia vision
arid sound. At first, autliors analyse tlie feasibility of
technology a i d economy of the multimcdia use in cnginecring
pre-study. Through an example of robot w ~ t hsis dcgrecs of
freedom, secondly, authors dcal \villi tlie iiictliod and process
of thq pre-study dcinonstrate systeni and analyse the coniputcr
hardware and software used
Filially authors prcsent a
summary of Robot Multiiiiedia Systcni

etc. and begins to bc iiscd in engineering technology ficld, i i i

whicli it has played an active part in designing and improving
the product structure and unction.
This paper presents the iiiultiiniedia technology
application in a prc-study with aii cxaniple of a new robot
system wi:h 6 d.0.f. and rclated technology, analyzes the
necessity of the inultimcdia used 111 tlic pre-study and
introduces methods that include 3D model, animation, sound,
etc.. Multimedia technology was used to demonstrate tlic
robot system pre-study rcsults synthetically and achieve good
effect in wliolc system, robot body and control system, robot
imtioii parameters, uorking space and motion trajectory as
well as fiinction.

key words Multimedia, Engineering pre-study, Robot

I . INTRODUCTION
It is known to all that cnginccring dcsign nicms a final
:ichievement or a fornicd substance crcaled tlirougli working
hard. With the developnient of sciciice and tcclinology, the
engincering projects are more and niorc xcurate and coniple\:
and the philosophy of iiiodcrii cnginccring is varicd i n high
level During 1980s, tlie conccpt of enginccring prc-study is
introduced to thc rescarch pro.iccls of National 863 High
Technology Plan in China, wliicli i i i v o h u invcstigatiiig thc
subject, proving the f ~ ~ s i b i l i lof
y sclicme, drawing up the
route of implement, cvaluatiiig tlic ccoiioiny of ciigineering
and the key technology relatcd, clc. To appraise, cxaniinc,
verify and determine a subject, tlic cngiiiccring pre-study
would be regard as the mainly basis by Iecli11ici11 espcrls tilid
dcpartment, so I t is niainly fcaliircs of engiiiccriiig prc-study
that overlapping of sub.jects, strict logic, a few rcscarchers
with high-level and long period. Oii thc other hand, after tlie
pre-study results have bccii obtaincd, using tlic documents,
data and graph, two-dimensional ligurcs a n d formula are very
dirficnlt 10 esplairi tlie tccliriical fcaturcs of coniplcs system
and relationship syntlictically. Ob~~iously,
i t has bcconie a
focus tliat explains llic idcas and nicthods more clckiilcd, niorc
closely and niorc lively
Recently, computer multinicdia tcclinology I S dcvcloping
rapidly and widcly extends tlie field of coniputcr application.
By digital it can handle, transinit, store and conibine test,
sound, figtire, picture, aniiiiation and video elc Now i t has
been used in education, training, sllowing and :idvcrtiscnient

11. A NEW ROBOT SYSTEM

A typical robot systcm, ;is sliown in Figure I , i s nude up
of a body, a control-box and apparatuses including ausilixy
controllcd ases. Froin a mechanical point of view robot i s ;in
active mechanism with multi-d.0.f. and indcpendcnt drive.

Figure 1 A typical robot systcrn

However it is also a closcd loop system with multi-aiis
controlled and gangcd on control. In recent years the
development of robotics is bcing toward high-speed, high
prccision and intclligence to be suite widely application.
The ncw robot shall be used widcly 111 welding and
assembling and so on. In order to meet this need, the robot
has to have a larger working space and higher prccision
During tlie pre-study we usc tlie RV-AC teclinology and newly
structure. RV-AC is madc up of a RV (Rotary Vector)
reduction and a AC servo motor. It is its features that high
prccision, high rigidity and small volume. Because of ball-

Tiiis work was supportcd by Sliangliai Science and Tcclinology Dcvelopn~cntFund (Contract No.941 11034 )

0-7803-3104-4
*

844

scrcw aiid linkagcs uscd i i i llic body, llic ivorkiiig sp;rcc a C

robot is gcncrally liniilcd. Thc working sp:icc will be
cn1:irgcd and the mcclianical slruclurc can be iniproved by
KV-AC. Mcaiiwliile. thc slruclurc \villi a Torc-rakc grm4ly
c:lIl 1tl:lkc iiicsc crrccts b c c o l ~ ~111ot-c
c ob\ious. A H o r iilcsc NC
cmbodicd tlic dcsigii thoright :iiid tcc1iiiic:ii skills, which arc
lhe fccalurcs and arrangciiiciil o f KV-AC i n thc robot body, a
difrcrcntial lransmission in sixth iiscs and molioii
coiiipciisation etc.. Hoivcvc~+,il is diflicrilt to csplain aiid
iIliis1r:itc thciii i n 2D dciwiiig and docuiucnk We utilize
computcr multimcdia technology to illustrate all that
succcssrully rand more pcrrcctly and find soliiie technical kcys
that should bc paid attcntion i n the pre-sludy.

d) 1i:t1iilc:illy, 3D riiodcl IS the most iiiiportaiit arid cssciit M I

Tlic kcy p x t s of the robot are brult in AutoCAD and 3 D
Studio and some secondary parts can be oiaiittcd Tor
coinwitcnx, Tor instnncc screw, bcaring and kcy ctc
It

111. MULTIRIEDIA TECHNOL,OGY AND

h4 ETIIODS IN TI1 E PRE-STUDY

11 I S our goal how to c\pl;iiii tlic designs ideas mid
inclhods i n grcalcr clclail, itiorc closely and iiiorc Lively using
iiiiiltrmcdia tcchnology Rcccnll) lhcrc arc lols OTcoiiinicrce
iiiultimcdi:i softnarc and thc) 1ia\ e pcifcct fiiiiclioii
How to
finish thc woik 011 PCB has a pi,iclical significance and I S
~ a l r ~ a bnokc,
lc
so 11i:ii our \\oilc I S b a s ~ con {lie follo\ving
Ha rdwa rc
CPU
386DW66 aiid above
RAM
8M
11;1 I d pa I1
540 M
Soiiiid Card
16 bll
Ma I 11 SoTi\v:i rc
Wlndo\\5 3 I
AuloCAD 12 0 Tor \Y~ndo\\s
3D Studio 3 0
Adobe Piciiiicic 1 I
Tlic Scaiiricr aiid Vidco outpi11cqiiipniciil arc not iieccssary

A. SETTIN<; 31) MOI)EI,

The mcclianical structurc or robot with 6 d.0.f. is very

coniplcu and ils appcaraiicc i n ? D is showi i n Figure 2 . If tlie
loc;ilion and i i i u l u n l relation or iiiaiii p m s arc illiistralcd

Figure 2 Tlie upper arm of tlic

rabot

hclps to stress the main points. All the parts $re asseinblcd
to the robot. I n Figure 3 the upper arm of tlie robot is shown.
which can be separated into rotation pairs, body unit and
supporting parts Firslly draw the section shapes of parts i n
2D SHAPE according to their size, then put these shapes inlo
3D LOFTER separately and mike PATWSTEP equal to their
thickness, create the 3D modcls in PREVIEWMAKE. Aficr
that, put them into 3D EDITOR. , In DD EDITOR we iisc
MODIFY/ ORJECTNOVE to adjust the unite positions
Finally CREATE/OBJECT/ATTACH is used to inergc tlic
units into the upper arm.
After resolved, because soiiie parts, such as robot wrist
and bevel gcar, will have special shapes or appearance lincs.
the following way can be used. As shown in Figure 4, tlic
wrist model is built. The wrist is separated into two niuff
units and two end cup units. However tliere are illtersecling
lines between units. Firstly we build two ;nuffs ai>d two end
clips according to the corresponding sizes in 3D EDITOR
Tlieii built two cylinders, one of which is equal to the eternal
diameter of the sinaller muff and another is equal to lhc

Figure 4 The robot wrist

eternal diaiiictcr of the larger one. Put first cylinder inlo Ilic
iiitcgvile of thc Inrgcr buff where the two niuffs iiiterscct as

slioun i n Figure 4 I n ordci to subtract cylindcrl from

the largcr muff using CREATE/OBJECT/BOOLEAN and
clioosing tlic SUBTRACTION, thc u n i t 1 IS goltcii Using llie
saine iiictliod, subtrnct cyl~ndcr2 rrom tlic siiiallcr iiirifr and
gct thc unit2 Finally the ciid cup, the u n i t I and unit2 are
asscniblcd and mcrged into tlic \ \ I is1
The gcar class, such a s bcvcl gear as shown Figure 5 , IS
spccial parts Building Ilic 3D modcl, we can scparatc the
bcvel gear to scveral tcctlis units and a coiie It should bc
paid attention to tliat tlie tooth foi i n IS gradrial variation and
the cliangc proporlion of tlic tootli scction shape IS not smie
Fiistly i n 2D SHAPES, we drnw the gcar form of tlic small
Lice and a n arc, which IS s m c a s tlic Icnglli of llie root of
tooth, and conncct them iiilo a shapc \\tithoot brcaking point
(is shown i n Figiirc5 Tlicn llirs sliapc I S loadcd i n 3D
LOFTER Set PATH/STEPS cqiial to thc \vidth of gcar tooth,
:idjust the scalc of PATH i n X and Y a\is through
DEFORWSCALE, in ordcr to makc tlie cliangc scale
according with the one of tlic rcal gear i n tooth forin. Use

Figure 6 The bcvcl p ; i r

PREVIEW/MAI<E to crcatc ;I tooth unit and put it into 3D

EDITOR. I n 3D EDITOR. sctiing llic radius bctwecn tlie
sinall cnc! facc and tlic gcar asis as tlic rotating radius and
sclccting tlic nriinbcr of tlic b c \ d gcar cqwl to tlic nrimbcr- of
thc crcalcd u:iits, \\c iisc CREATE/ARRAY/ RADIAL to
crcatc N gcar tooth units. Fiii:illy \YC iisc CREATE /CONE to
build a colic supgor-1ing thosc units and zssciiiblc up and
nicrgc thcm into ;I bcvcl gcar.
According to tlicsc ways \\c build all parls and assenible
u p llic 3 D modcl of tlic nciv robot \vitli 6 t1.o.f. Froin tlic 3D
iiiodcl we find that tlic torqric i i i tlic joint1 and .joint2 arc
biggcr i\.licn thc robot ariii 1)rolr;icts coiiiplclcly and robot
gravity is far : w a y from tlic scat. So tlic hrcc, torqiic and
power i n thcsc joiiils sliould bc calculatcd cmfiilly i n thc
conditio ti,

11. CIiiNESE W N ? ?REA?MEN?

111the application. soiiic ititrotluction should bc prcsciilcd
i n Chincsc Ho\vcvcr. Chincsc roiii c:iii not bc crc:itcd dirccrly

i n 3D Studio
Of course, some S ~ ~ C I RsoAware
I
creating
vcctor Chinese font directly can bc utilized A convenient and
ccononiic method IS that use the Chinese Figure Convetlet
function of Chinese Star 2 0
The C3NVERTER can
transform Chinese font into figure. Through AutoCAD tlic

Figure 5 The fi~lureof

figure is changed into the DXF that can be accepted in 3d

Studio. Then the DXF file is loaded in 3D SHAPES. In 3D
SHAPES the vector lines miist not bc intersect, overlap and
open. For csample, the font A,meaning person and as
shown in Figire6, can not meet above requirement. We use
MODIFY/SEGMENT/BREAK to break the intersection, and
MODIFY/VERTEX/DELETE to delete the vertices as shown
iii the square of Figure 6, and trim the Afigure to link into ;I
close line, that is shape figire. It should be paid attention lo
that too innny vcrliccs will increase the faces of Chines Foiit
i n 3D EDITOR. That is disadvaiitagcs to form the pre-study
showing file. Wc can delete some vertices, if tlie shape is not
destroyed. Use MODIFY/VERTEX/CURVE and MODIFY/
SEGMENT/CURVE to trim the shape shown as Figure 6 and
sct propcr PATH /STEP to create Chinese font.

IV ANIMATION
Aninialion c m concentrate to illustrate the coiicepts of
dcsigncr, subsystcms and relationship between each othcr 21s
wcll as the kcy tcchnology detail i n tlie engineering pre-study.
We iisc anim::(ion to show dynamically robot mechanism.
wliolc body ;Irrangcment, inotioii scopc, typical inotioii
trajectory and soiiic iicw tcchnology in the pre-study of tlic
robot.
Animation shoiild create a play, which is a n ordcr or
tinie showing program according to play time, to show tlic
parts iiioving, rotating, scale and transform in the
KEYFRAME of 3D Studio. Because evcry inotion scopc and
angular velocity of joints are not same, tlie sliowiiig tinic lias
to bc calculaled according to the angular velocity and motion
scope. For csample, if 30 friwsec is considered as tlic
sho\ving spccd, the frame number is equal to 30 multiply tlic
showing time. I n the KEYFRAM the rclalive positions of
pxts are dclermined, but certain parts that have motion
rclatiyity have no mutual rel;itionship.
We iisc

HIERARCHY!LINI<

to form a lrcc or p;rrciit-s~ibsidi~i~~

Thc robot woIkiiig space can be slioivii only by scvcral
rclationsliip according to thcir linkiiig rchtion. Wlicn a
ciivclope sorfxcs aiid thcre is not a satisracting method to
parcnt part iiiovcs, all sub-parts \vould folKow it. Figrirc 7
explain thc motion trajectory ~isually
Utilizing tlic
slio\vs tlic sistli joint. Whcii tlic motor is clrivcii, 11ic driving
iiiultinicdia the robot motion scopc and appointing iiiotioii
bclt ~vlicclwould bc also drivcn to rotate and the niolion is
lociis can bc shown conveniently. When the robot arni IS
lrnnsmittcd to tlic c l r i w i bclt wliccl tliroug1.i tlrc cog bclt. So
protracted coniplctcly, in which the upper ariii is rotatcd 111
kiSO", it shows the robot horizontal riiotioii s:ope and i t
shows the robot vcrlical one when tlie forearm is rotated 111
+75"- -1 IO". The posture of scratching robot back can bc
realixd by tlie combination of cadi joint motion ;is showii I I ~
Figure 8. So the large aiid agile working space of the robot
has bcen illustrated

F i g u r e 7 The silt11 joint ron\ti+iiicturc

tlic robot eiid caii bc drncii by tlic bcvcl gcar Aftcr LINK
Iiaiidlcq, the driving bclt wliccl ciiii bc iotatcd 111 [lie anglc we
rotalc molor iotor I n siiiiic fr;iwc rotatiiig thc drivcii bclt
whccl i n an aiiglc, tlic di iwng bcvcl gcar \ \ i l l bc done Whcn
rotating tlic d i i \ m bc\ cl gear I I I a ccitain anglc according to
the tlrcory of cng;igcinciit, tlic ciid iotation can bc rcalixd
bccausc of hINK funclion All that show lhc synchronous
rclation of priiicip.il and suboitllnatc I I I ilic course ihc belt
\vhccl ciiii bc iirovcd and liaiisfoi nice1 to siinri1,itc tlic bclt
I\ liccl dnvc

V . ASSAMBLING SOUND
Sound can cnrich esplaiiiing contents and strcngilicn
effccts in the pre-study. Sound is dividcd into the caption aiicl
background niiisic. Tlic picture aiid pre-inaking animation
finishcd, the caption and background music can be changcd
into the kind filcs of WAV by Sound Card 2nd relatctl

Figure 9 The wintlows of :lssilinhlirlg sound

Figure X The I)osttlrc of scriiicliiny: t'obot

hilClt

Gciicrally i t is dilliculty t1i;it llic 3D SI ructure inlcrfcrcncc

and iiiflucncc bct\\,ccii rcal parts arc foulid i n tlic figurcs.
With thc hclp of aninration, tlic coiiiplc:~3D positioii and
rclat io iislii p ca 11 bc clct cr ni i iicd accii 1.2) t cl y . For csa iii plc, wc
can clicck the i i i i i s . scopc i n .joint iiiotion dctcriiiincd. The
way is tliat rotating cacli joint to its liriiit posilion and
incasuring tlic iiias. rolatiiig aiiglc. I n tlic iiicmrciiiciit wc
find t l u t thc rolating scopc of llic fiflli .joint is lcss I O dcgrccs
t l ran tlic prcliiiiinaiy tlcsign. so t l i a t it is iiccclcd to niodify thc
original dcsigii and givc sort\\-:irc ciigiiiccr ;in suggcslion for
protccting i t .

soflwarc. We iisc Adobe Premicrc to edit sound and picturc.

Firstly, p i t the aninlalion files and the WAV files into Prqjcct
Winclow of Adobe Prcmiere, recopy thc animation into Track
A or B i n tlic Coiislruction Window's VIDEO and recopy the
WAV tilcs into Track A, B or C in the Construction
Window's AUDIO. In tlrc Coiistnictioii Window the head and
end of tlic ;inimalion can be overlappcd. A proper intcriin
form can bc clioscii from the Transitions Window aiid put into
tlic overlapping part of Track T of the Coiistnictioii Windo\\'.
Tliat can maltc anini;ilioii producc gradual iiitcriiri ;is sIro\wi
Figurc 0. Tlic anim:ition that needs l o dub is cliaiigcd iiito thc
window form of Clip. In tlie window using Framc f o n w d
;rnd Framc backward can go to the framc that is the first
dubbcd frame. In llic frame we use MARK to iiiakc a iii:irk
(0-0).
rile figrirc appcars in ihc rclated frame of tlic
Constroclion Window. I n Track A, B or C tlic rclatcd W A V

files arc movcd to align a l l filc Iicacls ;inti d a t e d iiiarking

figures
Aftcr tliosc opcrations, tlic prc-study sho\ving
progr;i iii has between ani ilia I io 11 :I lid soli i r d

VI. CONCLUSION
It h a s just begin to utilizc ~i~iiltiiiicdia
tccliiiology i n the
cnginccring prc-study, but we can dra\v thc following
conclusions:
1. Multimedia tcchiiology can bc uscd lo csglaiii the
rcscarchcrs idcas aiid methods iiiorc closcly and
iiiore livcly in the pre-st:idy.
2. Utilizing of animation, pictiirc and sound is good
w r y that illustratcs 3D space :tiid dynamic
rclationship and can avoid niakiiig physical modcl.
3. We can clicck tlic tccliiiology targct and find tlic keys
i n tcchiiology during in;iltiiig tlic prc-study showing
progra 111.

Once tlic multimedia s o m e material has becn

finished, it is coiiveiiieid to modify, edit and use.
5 . It is convenicnt to carry and introduce the pre-study
acliievcmcnt s.
It should be poiiilcd that the period of inaking multimedia
pre-study program dcpeiids on the computer hardware and
used software.

4.