Development of SCARA robot arm combined with vacuum suction head

This study presents the design, fabrication, and experimental validation of a compact SCARA robot arm integrated with a vacuum suction head for lightweight pick-and-place applications. The prototype consists of one vertical prismatic joint and two planar revolute joints, combined with a dual vacuum suction end-effector. Forward and inverse kinematic models were developed to determine the relationship between joint variables and end-effector position, while dynamic considerations were used to support the mechanical design process. The fabricated prototype was tested using a cuboid object with a mass of approximately 200 g and dimensions of 100 × 30 × 50 mm. The robot achieved a maximum horizontal displacement of 446 mm and a maximum vertical displacement of 178 mm. Experimental results confirmed the feasibility of the proposed low-cost SCARA prototype for basic lightweight pickand-place tasks in laboratory-scale and small-scale automation applications.