arm robot for arduino

While the instructions leave a bit to be desired (more on that later) overall this kit is not too difficult to assemble. There are some trickier parts like with some small hardware you have to install - but actually these might not be too bad if you have smaller hands. It's definitely a "adult supervision required" type of thing IMO. Craftier kids might be able to figure it out all or mostly on their own, but I'd imagine most adults would even need some help putting it all together, or at least having another pair of hands might be useful in certain steps. To their credit, the instructions make note of that fact, and I'd imagine it'd make for some great family bonding time (assuming you broke the assembly process up and didn't try to do it all in one go, since that might get frustrating). The build quality, for the money, is superb IMO. High-quality laser-cut acrylic parts, a ball bearing block, the right fasteners in well-marked baggies (with a few spares of the really tiny bits), and all the parts/tools you'll need, save for one thing. YOU DO HAVE TO PURCHASE (2) 18650 LITHIUM BATTERIES SEPARATELY. So that might drive up the cost of this kit somewhat; keep that in mind. Also, you should probably find a (safe) charger for said batteries, because all this will do is discharge them, and they're way more expensive than AA's so you'll want to recharge them to get your money's worth out of the batteries and this robot. Now, another problem I ran into is that THE ARDUINO NANO CLONE this kit comes with MIGHT NOT WORK WITH WINDOWS. It didn't for me. I did everything that normally works with this clones. I made sure the CH340 driver was installed (and the board did show up in Device Manager as such, with its own COM port). I used the "old bootloader" for the Arduino Nano in the Arduino IDE, and I tried a USB 2.0 port, and I tried it on a different computer. No dice; I kept running into STK_500 timeout issues. This is a common problem with these boards, but usually some fighting with the configuration/drivers can do the trick. Of course, using Linux or MacOS might "fix" it too, but I didn't have that option at the time. So, as you'll see in one of the pictures, I resorted to using an Arduino UNO (clone) as an ICSP for the Arduino Nano, bypassing the CH340 entirely. For all I know, it might have been a marginal or broken chip, since its light pattern was weird while attempting to upload code on the board directly over USB. At any rate, there's a good Instructables article out there that explains how to do this. But the fact that you very well might run into this is definitely a drawback. However, I'm pretty sure if you ran into such a situation after purchasing one of these, that the customer service would help you out, and for that reason I'm not docking a star for this. Plus, it really is a common problem with these cheaper Arduino Nano clones, and not entirely within the manufacturer's control unfortunately. Anyway, the assembly itself was quite straightforward. Although, you really have to be careful that you're doing it right, because I found myself more than halfway in and having to redo much of it because I installed a servo the wrong way. So definitely take it slow, and don't rush. I think this kit could easily, at a good, steady, methodical pace (probably split up over multiple sessions) take 5-6 hours to completely assemble. So in a way you're getting good value for money, since it really is a project. Conversely, if you're thinking of buying this for someone, make sure they like putting stuff together, because there's a lot to do here. Often in this kits I find a flaw with the instructions or the design that I have to improvise around, like a part in the wrong place/orientation, a missing step, or an inadequate explanation. I was pleasantly surprised that this time there was no such hiccup. Although it's weird that the board has an IR receiver on it and this kit didn't come with an IR remote, despite mentioning the receiver in the instructions. HOWEVER, THERE ARE ALMOST NO INSTRUCTIONS FOR WIRING UP THE CONTROLLER TO THE BASE. I tried to take a picture of my wiring, but it's hard to see. There is a comment in the code that barely explains this. But basically, the 5V and GNDs of both joysticks go to one of the red and black pins on the control board, respectively. And A0 through A3 (the white pins) are hooked up as such: A0: VRx on the left joystick A1: VRy on the left joystick A2: VRx on the right joystick A3: VRy on the right joystick The buttons of the controllers are not hooked up to anything. Also, some directions of the right joystick are programmed by default to do strange things, or at least it is not explained too well. I think turning right on the right joystick "homes" the arm, but the way it does it is honestly somewhat scary, since it beeps until you let go of the joystick, moves into home position and shakes about a bit, then lets out a screechy beep. Honestly probably would've been better to hook up one of the buttons on the joysticks to do this, instead, since you can accidentally trigger a homing sequence while you're opening and closing the claw this way. Of course, that's something you can do yourself with some wiring and code, but it is not explained that well to be honest, and the code is quite tricky to understand. I think that's one of the weird things with the instructions. They go into unexpected highly-technical detail about certain things, like the theory of operations of the (unused) IR receiver or the protocol the Arduino Nano is (supposed to be) using when it communicates with the Arduino IDE. But they don't explain actually essential things like the controller wiring anywhere near well enough, at least not in my opinion. If you're looking for a strictly "educational" kit, this might not be it. Although that's not to say that the assembly process and trying to tinker about to write your own firmware for the robot arm isn't educational, or that some kids wouldn't find the technical details interesting, but it's just not what you'd probably expect, at any rate. The arm itself, as you can see in my video, is pretty easy to control and has a decent range of motion. I don't think I messed up too much in the assembly process, since when it "homes" everything is at close to right angles. Nonetheless, I don't know if the claw is supposed to close more fully; probably just a fault of how I put it together. But to be fair, if it requires much more precision than I can give it in assembly, I think it's about out of the range of a primary school student who would try to build this arm. But I'm not complaining about that much either, since even if mine closed all the way, it is not like it would be able to perform very intricate, humanlike movements (the claw itself, for example, cannot rotate, only open and close) or pick up very small or very heavy objects. It is interesting for what it is, IMO. I do wish the instructions went into a bit more detail on how to actually program it to automate certain movements. Because its use as a desk toy is fun, but limited. Surely with the right documentation, it would be trivial to test out and program pre-defined movement patterns, like picking up an object and dropping it in a certain location, or doing a little dance, or mimicking a hand gesture or something. I mean, that's still doable, but you basically gotta be a software engineer to figure it out with what you've got, which is a little disappointing. But again, it's not like everyone who'd buy this robot would be wanting to do that anyway. One more thing, AFTER YOU PROGRAM IT, TURNING ON THE ROBOT ARM CAUSES IT TO VERY RAPIDLY "HOME" ITSELF, SO KEEP YOUR HANDS CLEAR OF THE ARM ITSELF WHILE TURNING IT ON. Overall, it's a really fun robot arm. Yes, the instructions have some flaws, but honestly that's the name of the game in the electronics world. Sure, you generally have access to datasheets, code samples, evaluation boards, and the like, but often you need to improvise in cases of limited information, unexpected faults, missing parts, human error, etc. Although, I don't think that was really intended by the makers of this kit, but it is a good dose of reality nonetheless. I think it would be worthwhile for them to update the instructions a bit more, and the Arduino Nano clone boards' CH340 chips might be marginal (at least as far as Windows is concerned) although maybe I just got a faulty one - if so, that would be something else to look into. Honestly, I'd probably be satisfied if they just explained how to use ICSP in a pinch; might save some product returns or refunds. But the arm itself is undeniably a fun desk ornament or fidget toy. So it's definitely possible to get a lot of enjoyment out of it post-assembly, even if all you do is control it with the little controller.

This product is straight garbage, and it’s definitely not a “beginner friendly project” here’s everything that’s wrong with it: Assembly and programming instructions ridiculously hard to understand unnecessary small pieces Brittle and unfit pieces: several parts broke down on me Have to buy expensive batteries separately I still haven’t been able to get it to work, instead of my getting my kid exited and happy, ended up frustrated.

Ok, I wanted to wait until I finished this to write a review. I honestly think it’s best to do that with any product, really. And with every really good review, there’s good and bad to go with this. First the good: - All of the parts were there. In fact, there were some extra parts, which is good. I like it when a kit has at least the minimum parts necessary, and some extra is always good since a lot of the screws and bolts are small. - It took a long time to put together. Well more accurately, I took my time putting it together. I have very little experience with Arduino and all the other stuff, and I honestly enjoyed assembling this kit. - Speaking of assembly, I would have preferred a paper instruction manual, but having everything digital keeps the work area neat and it cuts down on the cost of the kit down. That’s never bad! - Speaking of parts, this IS plastic, so be careful with it. It can break (which happened to me, but a little superglue fixed it). All of the parts fit perfectly together with absolutely no issues. Now the bad, which technically isn’t bad, but there were things that went wrong. - I had a plastic support break on me, but not because of anything wrong with the kit. I overtightened a bolt. A little superglue fixed it without issues. - The biggest issue I had was that there was an issue with the shield. It’s kind of a proprietary shield, so that meant I couldn’t find one EXACTLY like it, but I did have one that allowed me to narrow down the issue to the shield that came with the kit. I contacted the company, and they immediately sent me a replacement. Now it works perfectly. This overall excellent experience has impressed me. I will be ordering more kits in the future, especially as I get better with programming.

I am impressed with the quality of the parts - sturdy and well packaged. The only problem I had is that one of the servo motors burned out with less than one hour of use. I have extra parts so I was able to replace it. It works well and I didn't want to return it. I bought it as a demonstration for my middle school electronics class and it is a good value for that. The design isn't as flexible as others, specifically in the wrist servo. The reach of this arm is limited by that. The software loaded and runs without issue.

It came in a colorful exquisite box. The screws are clearly labeled with their quantity and type. The guide can easily be downloaded from their website and is comprehensive.

The instructions are missing and was so complex that me and my son couldn't put this together and have a sentimental moment 💔 something we could share as an experience i don't recommend this. Oh by the way my son is and 11yo coder

Interesting toy, took me and my kid a few hours to assemble it but it is fun to do it and play with it. Highly recommended!

Bought this for use in teaching basic robotics. It assembled pretty easily and quickly (for someone familiar with this type of thing). While the servos provided with the kit are standard 9g analog servos, for 2 of the joints these are not sufficiently strong/stable to provide reliable robotic motion. There was extensive "feedback bouncing" in both of these joints. I replaced those two servos with a couple of digital 9g servos I had laying around and the robot worked very well. Reproducible with smooth motions. This is, of course, still a toy, not a serious robot, but it became something usable for teaching purposes at least.