Steel Extendable Arm SIEDS Report

In this project, the customer has requested a portable rig that will pick up heavy loads outside of an overhead crane’s scope (e.g. an outdoor loading dock), and place it to where an overhead crane can reach it. The project deliverable is a scaled modeled solution of an extendable, battery powered arm that can lift 70,000 pounds at 20 feet of extension, and 45,000 pounds at 30 feet. Static and dynamic calculations provide insight on how to adequately evaluate, control, and balance the system. A Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was performed on the steel beam of the arm mechanism, visualizing and calculating potential forces and failures. The rig solution involves a rectangular steel beam inside a rectangular tube shaft, extended through ball bearings by a linear actuator. Throughout the entirety of this project, the team developed an understanding of control systems to evaluate and make the proposed system function as intended through the Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) approach. By the end of this project, the goal is an approximately 6-foot model that has the ability to pick up and move a load.