Hey Guys,
This is my first post on Element 14, I watched quite a bit of the Ben Heck show and finally decided that I would come and check the site out. The community seems nice so I thought I would make an account and join in on the fun. On that note I apologize if this post doesn't follow any of the customs of the site. I have no idea what you guys tend to do in a post so, I thought I would just type it they way I thought it should be.
Anyway, cutting to the chase.
I am working on a Robotic Arm Project as part of my school studies. It has six points of rotation (Base, Shoulder, Elbow, Wrist, Wrist Rotate, Claw), all of these can be controlled by one micro controller board. It's a built up construction of Laser Cut Ply Parts that are held together with a combination of screws and wood glue, the separate sections are rotated by seven different servo's (the shoulder has two combined for added torque) which provide around 2.5kg per cm of torque (I think Im saying that right) at 5v and around 3kg at 6v. During testing the arm nearly threw itself off of the table, it can definitely handle it's own weight and needs added weight in the base. I am using brass tubing for the pivot points so that the separate sections can rotate smoothly around each other. Here is a picture:
When this arm goes off for marking it will be controlled by a PICAXE Microcontroller. I have only really recently got into programming properly, my only past experience being a graphical interface called Logicator which is used to program the PICAXE Chips. I have been trying to learn Python by making different little programs, such as a number sorting program and a riddles game. I have also bought an Arduino Starter Kit as I enjoy controlling things in the real world, and until I bought the kit I had no electronics at home. Not even a bread board. This will allow me to tinker to my hearts content!
So with the future in mind I thought as my first post I would ask you guys if you had any ideas on how this robotic arm could be controlled in the future. I plan on swapping out the PICAXE Microcontroller and its little ergonomically designed controller that I am making for an Arduino and Possibly a GUI or an array of slider resistors. Has anyone here done something like this before and if so how did it go? I really want something that is as intuitive as possible so that the the arm can be controlled accurately. Preferably it should have the capability of moving more than one axis of control at once, as it just looks much more fluid and awesome that way! I have very little experience of programming in Arduino (C) and so really don't know it's capabilities.
Hope you guys can help and I am happy to answer any questions about the structure of the Arm if you are interested!
TehMaxwell