Although mobile robots are the bees knees when it comes to robotics I do also like robot arms. I have played with a MeArm of the type featured in a coming MeArm Maker RoadTest due to start sometime in March I think. I had a redesign of the MeArm done to use fewer servo motors so that it could be assembled by my students at the University for a first year engineering laboratory which was fun, where I ended up with hundreds of the mostly partially completed arms. I might even have a go at 3D printing a version of the MeArm as an unofficial participant in the MeArm Maker RoadTest, assuming I can get hold of the design files or STL files or I am mad enough to try and make them all myself using TinkerCAD.
I have always wanted my own reasonably decent robot arm and when I saw the xArm from LewanSoul it seemed to just about fit the bill. It is a bit more expensive than I wanted to pay but it has a number of advantages of other similar slightly cheaper robot arms. It is a self-assembly build, which I always like, because it means that you can take it apart again if you want and try different configurations, it has a built-in controller which has Bluetooth and WiFi which I am hoping might be Arduino compatible. Even if it isn't I can always replace the controller with a suitable Arduino, maybe a MKR 1010. But mostly importantly it uses serial servo motors with feedback. I have always wanted to have a play with this type of servo motor, which are quite expensive and this robot has at least three, possibly five - I'm not sure yet. To me, this makes the xArm quite a bargain although I'm not sure my wife agrees with my reasoning. I have a seven day window of opportunity all to myself in which to make and test this kit.
I have other projects on the go (Raspberry Pi for the Picasso Design Challenge and TinyMobot (waiting for parts for this)) but I find that after three or four hours working on a specific thing my brain starts to rebel and wants to do something else. So xArm here I come.
Dubbie
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