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Overview
I co-designed, analyzed, and built a motorized crane as part of a semester-long 3rd year capstone project. The system was required to autonomously pick up and place objects located at least 30 cm from the robot centre, meet a 2:1 strength-to-weight, and remain under a $300 budget. The final crane featured three controlled degrees of freedom, with telescoping extension, vertical lifting via a winch, and full 360° base rotation.
Mechanical Design and System Architecture
The crane was developed using a modular design philosophy to prevent cascading failures and simplify assembly. The system consisted of a rotating base, tower, tower cap, two telescoping booms, a winch-based lifting mechanism, and base supports. Motion in each axis was independently actuated using motors controlled through an Arduino interface. Careful attention was paid to packaging and wiring paths to avoid interference during rotation and extension. I contributed directly to the CAD development of critical structural components, including the tower cap and leg supports, which defined load paths, constrained boom motion, and widened the base footprint to improve stability.
Control and Automation
The crane was operated using an Arduino-based control program written in C++, responsible for translating keyboard inputs into real-time, coordinated motion across base rotation, boom extension, and hoisting. The software continuously monitored limit switches to enforce travel boundaries and prevent mechanical overrun, while a non-blocking main loop ensured responsive control and simultaneous supervision of all subsystems. Motion logic was deliberately kept simple and deterministic, prioritizing reliability and operator intuition over complexity, with serial output used during development to verify correct command execution and system behaviour.
Manufacturing, Integration, and Testing
Key structural components were manufactured using FDM 3D printing, with print orientation, wall thickness, and infill selected to balance stiffness, weight, and dimensional accuracy. The crane was fully assembled and integrated with a keyboard-controlled Arduino system, allowing independent and simultaneous control of rotation, extension, and lifting. A structured verification plan was executed to validate all required and desired specifications, including range of motion, strength-to-weight ratio, pick-and-place reliability, assembly time, and budget compliance. The final system exceeded all primary requirements, achieving stable lifting, smooth rotation beyond 360°, and repeatable object handling within the defined constraints.
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