I am looking to make a robot arm that is controlled via radio.
The arm needs to be able to pick up wooden pieces that can range from 0.5lbs to 10lbs and carry them a fair distance. I already have a moving robot, but I am just stuck on what to do to pick up the pieces.
I have parts readily available to me as long as if I don't have to buy a whole arm that's already pre made.
I have servos, arduinos, circuits, aluminium sheets - bars - rods - etc.
Arm design
Do you have an idea of the degrees of freedom you will need? Note that 10lbs is quite a heavy load and although RobotShop offers some which can pick up that weight, they are not not inexpensive:
https://www.robotshop.com/en/advanced-robotic-manipulators.html
I guess some car window lift
I guess some car window lift motors could be an option. They are 12V DC, and I guess they have a good torque. And here (Brazil) I find some relatively cheap ones (less than $10 each).
Making mechanisms with linkages and levers can enhance and optimize the torque of your motors.
Reply
I’ll need to be able to rotate it 360 degrees horizontally and 180 vertically. It’ll also need to be able to extend a foot ahead.
Sketch?
Can you provide a sketch of how you envision it to look?
More info please
Hi Kolton
There are a lot of mitigating factors thast need addressing to give a good answer to this one.
What range of movement will the arm need?
How far is the arm going to have to reach from it’s base to clear the moving robot?
How much flexibilty does the arm need to have?
The answers of these questions will all influence an answer; the longer the arm, the more torque the motors need to have and the stronger the structure of the arm needs to be. And other stuff to that tune 
