A printable robot arm, a little bigger than the usual hobby servo once.
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That's where I'm currently heading ( My 2019 ) :
The four robots I build since this project started.
Version 4 now nearly done and in testing.
Take a look at the Gripper I designed for my Robots:
Version 4 is now nearly complete:
I also started uploading the files on github:
https://github.com/4ndreas/BetaBots-Robot-Arm-Project
And a components list for version 4:
It's been 4 years since I started this project. Its had some downs and a lot of ups. Time to give you an update about whats going on.
Notice: "No robots were harmed during making this video."
I post regular updates on my Instagram feed if you are interested in faster updates:
https://www.instagram.com/4ndreash
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFNmSFqofN_/?taken-by=imakerobots
The link above is a video of the working inverse kinematics. Now I don't have the arm on my desk, so I can't write the firmware that ties the arm to RO. However! RO is ready to connect and talk with Mantis.
My interest is drifting towards easier ways to move the arm in VR. The more I use RO the more I want to fly like an FPS game and push/pull the virtual model rather than click buttons on the side.
Hello Everybody! Dan Royer here. You may know me from helping such projects as the PancakeBot and the Cypress Umbrella. Glad to be working with @Andreas Hoelldorfer. He's got the hardware and I've got the software, so it will make a good team. Above you see the latest version of Robot Overlord (RO) simulating the Mantis arm. RO is a robot simulation package I've written in Java. Think of it as my One Ring.
First stage was to port the Inventor models into the system and animate them. The line you see running through the model is the software's mental model of the forward kinematics (FK). The FK informs the rendering engine where to draw the parts of the model AND it lets the software check for illegal/impossible arm moves. FK means "if my joints are at these angles, tell me where is the finger tip."
Second stage will be to get the inverse kinematics (IK) working. IK is the other direction - "I know where the finger is, tell me where the joint angles need to be." It will be a naive solution full of singularities because I'm only marginally clever (MC). Sigularities are cases where there may be many valid solutions, and picking an answer is hard for a computer.
Third stage will be firmware to make this arm talk with RO like all MC robots.
More generally, MC is working on adding Vive VR support and record/playback to RO. That will mean telepresence work, gamification, and more.
Dan out!
After version 4 (green) works quite well. I decided to stick with the basic design and improve this version instead of trying another approach.
I started with the Gripper and will work from top to bottom down the robot arm
http://chaozlabs.blogspot.com/2016/04/mantis-robot-arm-part-1-gripper.html
I will post a video about the part and a small article on my blog where all the links and part lists will be.
I just posted a update about my 3d printed, 6-axis robot arm project:
All six axis of my robot arm are moving now:
I build a case for the electronics, nothing special but it will serve the puropse.
I use now Nema23 steppers a high power stepper driver and a Arduino Due board with a Ramps-FD shield. I plan to build my own shield but this have to wait a little bit. I defiantly will stick to the Arduino Due. For now the Ramps-FD shield works fine and its quite cheap (25€).
Currently I'm waiting for the large bearings to arrive, they are not so easy to find. In the meantime I started wiring all up, the cable tubes inside seams to work this time so less ugly cables.
Everything looks very pomising now I'm very happy with the new design and looking forward to the all in action.
The only thing left is the rotating base. I try to get the construciton done this weekend.
I also uploaded step files on github so you can take a look on the arm.
https://github.com/4ndreas/BetaBots-Robot-Arm-Project/tree/master/Green/step
Also all other inventor files are online.
For those who have no CAD I uploaded the robot A360Viewer an online cad viewer:
I tried Onshape but it had a problem viewing all the parts???
I regularly upload pictures in this here:
Here is my new Video of the robot arm project:
I also started uploading the cad files on github:
https://github.com/4ndreas/BetaBots-Robot-Arm-Project
Still a mess I try to clean it up in the next weeks.
I'm working on a new version based on the experience I made with the previous versions.
The plan is to use stepper motors and timing belt gears.
The plan is to use a Nema23 stepper for the rotary base,
Joint one and two will be Nema24 ( this: http://www.omc-stepperonline.com/dual-shaft-cnc-stepper-motor-nema-24-100mm-4nm566-ozin-24hs393008d-p-388.html )
Joint 3 and 4 Regular Nema17 stepper and for the 5 joint a HerkuleX DRS-0101 .
But nothing is final now.
Power supply will be 24V-36V I guess.
Print all parts and assemble them ;)
Well I hope I can run the hole kinematics on a micro controller board. So you send a set of coordinates like (X,Y;Z; alpha, beta, gamma) witch and the arm moves its tip to this place. I don't found any built solution by now, I guess I have do do a lot by myself.
Smoothieboard software doesn't support robotic arms at the moment, but it's really really straight forward and easy to add a new arm solution. I added a new solution for my non linear delta, and I was surprised at how straight forward it was. There's a contest being held atm: http://smoothiecontest.org/
Ask me if you want more details on how to add the new arm solution if you like, its super easy : )
A quick question, are you planning on programming in an environment like ROS or a similar existing open source or are you just starting with fresh python scripting?
No python or any other scripting ;) I will run as most as possible on a micro controller. GUI will be c#.
This is fantastic. Thank you again for sharing. I am not sure if it has been answered before but are any of the current parts larger than 250mm in any plane? I would like to start print as soon as the cable guides are worked out. Then I hope to be able to make useful contribution.
Also, are you planning on modifying the base with a stronger DC motor or are you going to keep the original design on it. It has impressive speed and strength in the video.
Very cool! As soon as the orange files are available I think I would like to make a dc geared motor version. I am working on a wheelchair robot so it would be the perfect arm for giving me a "hand" around the farm. I would very much like to start on the gripper first. Thank you for sharing your amazing project.
OK this is a very interesting project, reminds me of the robotic arm assistant tony stark has, how I always wanted one of my own.
I think every reader here wants his own ;). My future plans include a moving stage with wheels (I always wanted to try omni-wheels).
If someone else is making the "inteligent" software, I can do the mechanics and electronic.
Most robots run off of harmonic drives, I know someone who 3d printed one and it worked great. It might be worth the change in the long run.
Nice job! Ever thought about planetary gearsets inside the joints? Thereby you could get around the low stepper torque. Points to start would be http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:407533 or something like the eccentric version http://www.nidec-shimpo.co.jp/en/products/pte/coronet/ (also somehow on thingiverse, but I can't find it right now)
Interesting idea (for future iterations). There is a lot of space inside the arms. Well I used for the second version dc motors with atached planatary gears.
now I found what I meant: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:19649 and http://www.zincland.com/hypocycloid/ (python dxf generator) But I guess the output shaft would need some ruggedifications :)
I got one cheap a few years ago. So It was available. The other ones are bipolar. But I'm working on a second version with geared dc motors.
It looks rock solid, and light too. This is really impressive to me. =)
Andreas Hoelldorfer
Erik Knutsson
Pavel Surynek
Mykolas Juraitis
AdityaPrakash23
I really like the project. I'm interested in what software would run this arm? Is there an already built solution or you'll have to write it from scratch?