Robotic Arm

[Tyler62]

Hi,

Im looking for information involving a robotic arm. I want to build a robotic arm that can rotate, raise&lower, and clamp and retract a claw. I want to use a microcontroller to control it but i would appreciate any help on where to find information on building an arm, what parts i need, suppliers, etc. If anyone knows some good websites about this topic or has some other resources i could use, i greatly appreciate any help that could be offered
Thanks!

 

[nornrich]

Tyler62,

That is a pretty broad question to ask. There are many manufacturers of components to put your own system together. A couple I've used in the past are PHD, Tol-o-matic, and Gimatic. They can be found at the following websites:

http://www.phdinc.com

http://www.tolomatic.com

http://www.gimatic.com

If you can give us an ideal of your application, it might be easier to give better direction.

Rich.....



Richard Nornhold, PE
nornrich@redrose.net

 

[Tyler62]

Thanks nornrich,

I didnt want to get into the nitty gritties but the application i want to do requires an arm to move an object from one location to another. I want it to be able to rotate at the base, i want the arm to raise and lower, and i want the claw to open and retract. It will be lifting light objects and i want to make it approx 18 inches. With regards to powering up i would prefer to use small servo motors and possible gears if not belt driven. I hope this explains it better. Any further help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[skills]

Are you sure you want to build this arm, it would be faster and probably a little cheaper to buy one off the shelf. See Robohand for grippers. Also

http://www.animatics.com

for servos, they have the Smartmotor. You may want to look at Tolomatic for stepper and servo controllers, drives, and motors. I would just buy an AIA actuator for speed and ease reasons. Hope this helps.