Servo Robot Arm
This is a simple servo robot arm that is able to pick up objects and place them in a designated area. This project will require most of its time for assembly due to the importance of making sure that the arm is stable and able to perform tasks without falling apart.
Supplies
- 3-4 servos
- Breadboard
- Cardboard (about 2-3 square feet of cardboard)
- Hot glue gun
- Arduino
Step 1: Cut Out Card Board Pieces
Depending on the type of servos you will be using the cutting dimensions will vary.
For micro servos, here are the dimensions of the cut outs:
Base (the support for the whole robot): 5 inches by 5 inches
2 2nd Base platforms (for the second servo): 3 inches by 3 inches
15 micro support pieces: 1 inch by 1 inch
4 arm claws: 4 inches by 4 inches(make sure you cut this in a claw shape form. Refer to the picture in the next step)
4 neck pieces: 7 inches by 1 inch (long rectangular shape)
2 arm support pieces: 7 1/2 inches by 1 inch
Step 2: Assemble
1. Start off my taking 2 micro servo support pieces and glueing them together. Attach the glued support piece to the side of the servo. Do the same for the other side of the servo.
2. Glue the bottom of the 1st servo to the Main Base
3. Repeat step 1 for the second servo
4. Glue together the second base platforms and attach it to the top of the first servo (where the first servo allows the second platform to spin)
5. Take the second servo and attach 2 more support pieces to the TOP of the servo and glue the top of the sevo to the bottom of the second base platform.
6. With the 3rd servo attach two neck pieces on both sides of the servo.
7. Glue together 2 micro support pieces glue them to the bottom of the neck piece (this is where the 2nd servo's head will be attached to).
8. Glue together 2 more neck pieces and attach it to the bottom of the 3rd servo.
8. Attach the entire neck piece to the mouth of the second servo so the 3rd servo is hanging at the top of the neck piece
9. Glue together two arm pieces to the side of the 4th servo. Attach the arm to the mouth of the 3rd servo.
10. With the 4 arm claws, glue a pair together and attach one piece to the BOTTOM of the 4th sevo (make sure it is sticking off to the side) and glue the second piece to the mouth of the sevo. The pieces should be creating a claw like shape.
**REFER TO THE PICTURES ABOVE FOR EACH OF THE STEPS**
Step 3: Wiring
Now it's time to wire. The wiring is very straight forward. A servo has three connections; ground, power, and digital pin. Using jumper wires to connect each one of the servos to a power and ground pin on the breadboard. Make sure that the power rail is connected to 5V on the Arduino and the Ground rail is connected to GND on the Arduino.
1st Servo
- Connect to Digital Pin 3
2nd Servo
- Connect to Digital Pin 5
3rd Servo
- Connect to Digital Pin 6
4th Servo
- Connect to Digital Pin 11
Step 4: the Code
For this servo robot arm the code can be altered to make the robot do just about anything. I have created this code to have the robot arm drop cups into a designated area. You might have to change the code according to the position of the servos when glued on.