Bernard is part of a project on integrated communication, created by TODO. Its objective is to enable users to unveil some reproductions of archeological artifacts that belong to the new collection of the Egyptian Museum in Turin. The system was devised to be used in two different ways:

- with the “roadshow” setting, the user controls the robot from the tablet that is installed in the rear end of the display case;

- with the remote control setting, the robot, being connected to the internet, is controlled from a distance through a dedicated web site.

Our contribution to this project mainly pertained to the planning and execution of the robotic arm and of its control system. All of the system modules were conceived and developed ad hoc to support the pressing requisites using a strong multidisciplinary approach.

On the electronic front, we designed and produced the mainboard delegated to the low-level management of the sensors, actuators and communication buses. The board was created in such a way that favours the modularity and the future scalability of the machine.

In terms of mechanics, we focused ourselves on the planning and the software engineering of the whole structure, enhancing the cinematic chain and the motion’s transmission system to guarantee the reach and the performance required. The control system was developed so that it could manage the machine in two different control modes. In order to guarantee our requested expectations we followed step by step the production and assemblage of the components with relative testing and fine tuning.