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Ouroboros, God of design

A project log for 5+ Axis Robot Arm

Building an open source robot arm for makers and small businesses

dan-royerDan Royer 07/24/2015 at 23:020 Comments

Solutions create problems create solutions create problems....

Added the rotation sensors. The caps over both sensors do two jobs. The first is to keep grit out - I'm thinking ahead about the Ingress Protection rating. The second is to hold the sensor over the magnet so that the brain knows where the finger is located at all times.

The cap needs to be secured to the green frame, and glue is not an option. Screw would only work if there is access to both sides. The large reduction gear was blocking access. I had to move the motors all the way behind the elbow in order to make everything work.

Along the way I discovered that my notes for the original bevel gears had been lost so I couldn't just make another to match the old gears - I had to regenerate them from scratch. Best believe I made a backup copy before going nuts on the design and I made damn sure to keep the notes this time.

With this I miiiiight be done with the arm from the wrist down to the elbow. At the elbow I've already mounted the rotation sensor and I still have to mount these motors. Should be two laser cut parts, no biggie. Once that's done the gearing between the shoulder and the anchor need to be worked on, but that should be the last piece (fingers crossed).

Due to the lack of software I can't test this arm virtually and confirm that it carries the weight I want at the precision I want... but I think the math checks out and there's ways to get more torque without headaches.

The electric pistons arrived today and I've already got the drivers. Rotation sensors claim to ship this coming Tuesday. I might use a 5/16" rod instead of the far more expensive 8mm rod the design calls for. Every other part I can either laser cut, print, or already own. This is happening, people.

Make a comment! Hello, is this thing on?

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