A prototype of a precision imaging electromechanical device for a pharmaceutical company.
Designed on SolidWorks from the ground up.
Prototyped using materials like Acrylic, Foam, 3D printed PLA and MDF
The first prototype delivered to the client, post-processed & painted.
Every component of the design was designed, manufactured, assembled, painted and tested by me.
Precision Imaging Electromechanical Device Prototype
Project Summary
Provide a brief overview of the project.
Developed a rapid prototype of a high-precision imaging device to capture reproducible images of petri dishes for a pharmaceutical giant.
Objectives:
Images should have:
· No shadows
· No glare
· Identical lighting conditions
· Identical noise levels, within a specified range
Design Process:
- Designed from the ground up using SolidWorks.
- Conducted multiple iterations to understand the optomechanical principles ensuring diffused lighting.
Materials and Prototyping:
- Utilized Acrylic, Foam, 3D printed PLA, and MDF for various parts of the prototype.
- To optimize on time, and cost, the design was tailored to rapid prototyping methods like 3D printing, laser cutting and 3D routing.
Key Achievements
- Validated the geometry of the lighting dome
- Validated the usability of the fixed focus camera, electronics and software
- Took over 1000 images, and over 1M images were taken using this device once it was installed with the client
Challenges and Solutions
- Ensuring structural integrity with lightweight materials.
- Difficult to maintain tight tolerances for precise placement of the petri dish
Outcome and Impact
- Successfully delivered a functional prototype that met all client specifications.
- The prototype is now being used as a basis for further development and production.
Redesign of the petri-dish imaging dome, for better image quality, more consistent diffused lighting, and sturdier materials with a better user interface.
Designed, prototyped, hand-finished and spray-painted.
Sketch → Finished product in 4 weeks
"Accumen" installed in the client's office.
The revised version of the Colony counter had a sturdier design, which was less susceptible to damage, vibrations and misalignment.
A robotic automation prototype for inserting petri dishes into a rotating conveyor system
A continuation of the previous project, an idea was proposed to make the colony counter completely autonomous, which meant an automated feed feature for petri-dishes (Inlet hopper)
One of the most complex design projects of my life, and my first introduction to "integration hell"
For every complex idea, I iterate through my solutions with working prototypes. This prototype was a successful proof-of-concept for the inlet hopper, and was later incorporated into the fully-autonomous product.
The automated table-top colony-counter prototype without the automated feed feature.
This was the second half of the solution for the fully autonomous colony counter project, an autonomous conveyor system added onto the Imaging dome.
A 3-month long project, including the initial sketches, mechanism development, design, manufacturing, finishing and assembly.
This product had a conveyor system that carried petri-dishes over a barcode scanner, took precise images on them, analyzed and sorted petri-dishes into groups based on the analysis.
The conceptual design of the automated inlet hopper, integrated with the autonomous colony-counter
Both halves of the solution merged into the finished final product - a fully autonomous imaging device.
The first-of-its-kind fully automated colony counter, installed in a client's office.
Automated inlet, conveyor, imaging and sorting in a compact, tabletop solution.
The conveyor used a geneva mechanism to ensure high-precision, stepwise motion.
Concept ideation of a fully autonomous, self-reliant, hyper-efficient colony-counter.
Fully-functioning pharmaceutical robot delivered to a client, installed and running (Patent pending)
The final iteration of design that brought in the computational power and a power backup feature, along with an industrial design influence to the Colony Counter.
Desktop friendly petri-dish imaging station
A seamless electromechanical design prototype, delivered to a client.
A desktop friendly, semi autonomous version of the successful Colony counter design.
A breakthrough portable gypsum spraying machine for Asian Paints
The fully-realised machine, currently available on the market, sold by Asian Paints