Roomba camera mounts & housings

iRobot | Mechanical Engineer | July - December 2022

OBJECTIVE

Update four legacy camera mounting parts from the Roomba j7 to accommodate removal of the vision board on the Roomba j9+ and Roomba Combo j9+. Intelligence driven by vision capabilities of the front-facing camera module is a key differentiator in the robotic vacuum cleaner category for iRobot.

SKILLS SNAPSHOT

DFM/DFA

PTC CREO

PLASTIC INJECTION MOLDING

SURFACE MODELING

ELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS

OPTICS

LEADING A PROTOTYPE BUILD

TIME MANAGEMENT

INTERN MANAGEMENT

DESIGN STEPS

Updated CAD models with a new skeleton
Removed the vision board from CAD and redesigned the back of the camera mounts
Designed wire retention features that were reliable, used minimal plastic, and were easy to mold
Learned to model flex cables and wire harnesses to accurately represent the new wire path
Worked with manufacturing and logistics to design a space-saving label bump-out
Collaborated on a detailed DFM effort with manufacturing engineers in APAC and a contract manufacturer
Led the P1 build for 91 camera modules

RESULTS

Four camera mounts and housings redesigned for DFM and DFA used in the Roomba j9+ and the Roomba Combo j9+
- Reduced width on mounts to save space within both robots
- New wire routing features and cable paths
- New, space-saving tracking label bump-out
- DFM analysis of 4 plastic injection molded parts
  - Draft analysis mitigating de-molding risk
  - Simplified geometry near ejector pins, mitigating de-molding risk
  - Elimination of two undercuts
91 P1 (prototype) camera modules built and completed ahead of schedule, allowing electrical and software engineers to begin debugging a week early

Views of the Roomba j7 Camera Module, used as the starting point for this project. (Image Credit: Ebay)

One of my parts (L) and the previous assembly (R).

Note the smaller overall footprint and tracking label bump-out (outlined in white).

"Successfully supporting the P1 build ahead of schedule is [Taylor's] biggest accomplishment"

- Winter 2022 Performance Review

SKILLS DEMONSTRATED

Creo surface and solid modeling with skeletons
Modeling wire harnesses in CAD
Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA)
- Communication with interdisciplinary and international teams
Leading a module-level build
- Project and time management
- Management of co-op tasking