Design and development of a precision packing stage and master control system for an automated vial packaging machine

Abstract

This thesis describes the design and development of the motion control system and precision machine elements utilized in a custom vial-packaging machine for use in the medical device industry. A unique rotary bowl feeder was developed for orienting and feeding the vials while a simple transfer line mechanism queues and loads them for packaging. For the mechanical alignment of certain motion elements elastic averaging was utilized to achieve satisfactory vial dispensing performance. A simple motion control system was developed using a Programmable Logic Controller with Human Machine Interface, as well as an Arduino[superscript TM] Leonardo with externally integrated stepper motor controllers. Finally, a machine vision system was integrated to provide information on product packaging quality and machine performance metrics.