A Look Back On The Wooden Menace, Robotic Arm
The arm works and I must say the thing is pretty strong. Stronger than you'd think from just watching the videos. The final robotic arm is pretty impressive when you look at the components that were used, however there is definitely room for improvement. Here are a few examples of why this project is good & where it could be improved.
Movement Improvement
The quick movements seen by the arm are attributed to the incrementor seen in the code & lack of true control software. A revision of the software could improve the movements seen greatly. The wooden design doesn't affect the mechanical movement of the system as much as the software designed to control the servos.
Gripper & Servo Strength
Hobby servos are all capped at certain torques. The Hi-Tec 311 Standard servos that I used for this project is a very low torque servo. There are servos available that offer 100-400% more torque, however they do cost more.
Further Research
In a further project I hope to use all ABS machined steel parts for the robotic arm. This takes away from the truly "homemade" design, look & feel however it results in an all around much better robotic arm.
Conclusion
So the project turned out about as expected. For a first attempt at a cheap, homemade robotic arm I feel the results were spot on. It is able to move objects back and forth (in the video I was throwing PIC microcontrollers into a coffee cup). It also has a wide range of movement and rotation which is what is desired in a robotic arm. That about ends this project.
Quesitons or Comments? Check out the Forums
The arm works and I must say the thing is pretty strong. Stronger than you'd think from just watching the videos. The final robotic arm is pretty impressive when you look at the components that were used, however there is definitely room for improvement. Here are a few examples of why this project is good & where it could be improved.
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Movement Improvement
The quick movements seen by the arm are attributed to the incrementor seen in the code & lack of true control software. A revision of the software could improve the movements seen greatly. The wooden design doesn't affect the mechanical movement of the system as much as the software designed to control the servos.
Gripper & Servo Strength
Hobby servos are all capped at certain torques. The Hi-Tec 311 Standard servos that I used for this project is a very low torque servo. There are servos available that offer 100-400% more torque, however they do cost more.
Further Research
In a further project I hope to use all ABS machined steel parts for the robotic arm. This takes away from the truly "homemade" design, look & feel however it results in an all around much better robotic arm.
Conclusion
So the project turned out about as expected. For a first attempt at a cheap, homemade robotic arm I feel the results were spot on. It is able to move objects back and forth (in the video I was throwing PIC microcontrollers into a coffee cup). It also has a wide range of movement and rotation which is what is desired in a robotic arm. That about ends this project.
Quesitons or Comments? Check out the Forums