Mechatronic Design of a Robotic Arm to Remove Skins by Wine Fermentation Tanks

The mechatronic design of a robotic arm to remove skins by wine fermentation tanks was developed, along with the building and testing of a first prototype, within the frame of the BRIC 2015 national research project on the confined spaces, which was funded by INAIL (National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work). In particular, the type synthesis of a specific endless tendon-driven mechanism with three d.o.f.s (degrees of freedom) that operates in the horizontal plane, and thus, one time redundant, is presented in this paper. Each moving link is remotely actuated by a stepper electric drive, since these motors are installed on the fixed frame with the aim to keep them outside the wine fermentation tank, and thus, allowing the passage of the robotic arm in closed configuration, through the manhole of the tank. This mechatronic device is aimed to avoid the working of the employees in confined and polluted spaces, and thus, to eliminate the hazards given by the skin removal by the fermentation vat, which is the most unsafe activity in wine manufacturing processes.