I want a robot arm that can imitate as closely as possible the movements of a person’s hand as he/she traces symbols in the air.
For example, let’s say I trace an M in the air with my hand. I want to be able to get the robot arm to trace an M in the air just like I did.
Is this possible with Lynxmotion’s combo kits? How easy or complex would it be to have the robot reproduce these movements? Would there be many limitations in the types of movements the robot can reproduce? Would I need other equipment in addition to the kit?
The programming might be complex. You may need to have a program to recored the movements of a master arm similar to below, then run the recorded program to operate the slave arm.
Your video looks very much like what I need, but also like I may have to put in quite a bit of time to have it working.
If I have the 3D coords of the points I want the robot hand to pass through at specific moments in time, would it still be a complex task to have the arm move between the specified points at the designated times?
So long as there is enough time for the robot to get to the points, we have software which allows you to move to specific coordinates. You can use the BotBoarduino version and create your own code to time it as well. Does the arm need to be the same size as a real arm?
Not necessarily, no. It would be a plus if it could trace the same path the reference human hand traces, but doing so in a reduced scale is no problem. Also I’m not planning to have the reference person stretch out his/her arm as much as they can. They’d be tracing symbols in a constrained area in front of them.
The AL5D seems adequate for this, right?
Another aspect of the application that I have not mentioned but may be important is that I may want the arm to either operate independently once I have preloaded a set of trajectories to follow, or connected to a PC where I would be directing it where to move “in real time”.
I would appreciate if anyone could give me their opinion on:
Which arm would you recommend for this? AL5A, AL5B, or AL5D?
For each of these kits I see there are several variants available (BotBoardunio, Free Software, etc.). Which would you recommend? Why?
Having a list of 3D points in time I want the hand to trace, what is the software I should use to get it done? Are there any particular examples available I should be looking at? I would like to know how to get started with this.
The most popular arm is the AL5D because it is the largest and has the greatest reach.
If you want the arm to operate independently of a computer, you’ll need the BotBoarduino version - there are no software options. The SSC-32 is a servo controller and needs to receive commands from either a computer or a microcontroller.
Having a list of 3D points in time I want the hand to trace, what is the software I should use to get it done? Are there any particular examples available I should be looking at? I would like to know how to get started with this.
I have been looking into this some more and I am definitely going to need to have a PC instructing the arm to move in a certain way.
An alternative would be to have the arm output to a PC what motion sequence it has just performed.
So I believe that I am ready to order an AL5D, but I have these remaining questions:
Can the BotBoarduino version work connected to a PC and receive motion instructions through this connection?
If not, what would be the best AL5D kit for this?
Alternatively, can the BotBoraduino version be conected to a PC and output which preloaded motion sequence has it just executed?
Thank you all for the replies and the patience.
Looking forward to start playing with that AL5D!
Yes, but you have to create a program to accept serial input and also to control the servos. If you don’t plan to use the arm away from the computer, you may prefer the SSC-32 as opposed to the BotBoarduino.
This one may be dumb, but I should make sure.
I see there are 2 alternative control programs for the AL5DCN-KT. Do either (or both) of these permit scripting robot hand motion and integrating this into other computer software?
(I’ll need a program that orders the arm to execute a certain motion sequence and then communicate with a 2nd program)
Is it possible to run the control software on Linux?
If you are not sure of something, have researched the answer and still don’t know, don’t hesitate to ask here. You can use FlowBotics Studio, Lynx Dual Arm Controller, Lynx Simple Sequencer, Lynx Servo Sequencer and Lynxterm, as well as RIOS and SSC-32 Sequencer. These all allow you to create routines which the arm can follow. The AL5D includes the gripper, but not sure if you mean a different type of “hand”? lynxmotion.com/c-15-software.aspx
I’m just getting started with this, and there are so many options that researching each until I understand all of the alternatives (without having the arm to play with) seems to be very challenging.
I appreciate your reply, but it does not fully answer my question.
Could I use any of these programs to either:
Control the arm from a plain-old computer program written in any common programming or scripting language (C, C++, Java, Python or Ruby are preferred)?
Execute arbitrary code within the motion routines these programs create?
I’d appreciate it if you could recommend one or two alternatives among all of the software you listed so I can start looking at those in particular instead of everything at once, which is a bit overwhelming.
I’m experienced in programming with the languages I mentioned before.
No, by “hand” I meant the gripper. Thanks for clarifying the terminology.
Yup. Just follow the proper syntax when sending commands via your computer’s serial port. For example, to position the servo connected to pin 1 on the SSC-32 to 90 degrees, the syntax would be:
#1P1500 <cr>
More information can be found in the SSC-32 manual.
Not really.
The simplest is Lynxterm, then you might try the Lynx Simple Sequencer.
Then the logical thing to do is get a servo controller (ssc-32, arduino, etc), a couple of inexpensive servos, and start writing the control code. You will learn a lot that you haven’t thought of yet.
