Hi
I am interested in buying the OWI-535 Robotic Arm Edge from you but I wonder if I can mount it on the DF Robot 4WD Arduino-compatible platform, and get a movable robot arm with wheels. I also wonder if I can control the OWI-535 Robotic Arm with a wireless device instead of the control with wire?
How long is the wire on the transmitter to the OWI 535 Robotic Arm and can I extend it if I want and can I change the motor in it to get higher lifting capacity?
Hello,
I found myself asking this same question a while ago. While I didn’t buy a edge arm to try it out, it is very possible. It involves wiring the motors to a microcontroller instead of the provided control system. One thing you have to watch out for is the limits on each joint. One common thing done with the edge arm is to add potentiometers to each joint to make sure you can regulate fixed end points. This allows you to achieve closed loop control.
If you would like information on this, I can try to dig up some pictures.
Thanks for your answer and yes if you could find more info about it I would be more than happy if you could help me with it. I have seen some vids on YouTybe where people has modified this robot arm and even mount it on a movable platform. But I like this arm so much I think I will buy it in a couple of days.
Mathias
As tronicsos indicated, the basic 535 Edge Arm uses a DC gear motor at each joint, without any indication of position or end limits. The DC motor controller(s) are built into the remote control. Therefore in order to adapt it for use with a microcontroller, you would need a small DC motor controller for each joint, ideally add switches to end positions and a rotary sensor (potentiometer for example) to get the angle. People have done it because the 535 is so inexpensive, but it takes quite a bit of hacking. Creating a custom arm using inexpensive servos would likely work better and save you quite a bit of money.
One of the resources I found to be useful when I was planning out this project (I never built it) is the following instructable
Ok that was good news about it. I definitely wanna control it with a computer like an industrial robot. Thank you so much for your help.
No problem. To be honest its such a cheap way to attach a nice looking arm to a robot platform. You’ll have to let me know how it goes. I might want to do one as well haha.
Yes of course as soon as I have bought it and the disc to control it from a computer I can send you some pics of it if you want. I hope I can show you my future project.
Hi
I wonder if the gripper head on the OWI-535 id rotating 360 degrees and I have searched on YouTube about this robot arm and I heard that ther is a USB version of it too. I have also heard that you can change the control board inside it to control it with another devices so now I wonder what kind of controlboard do I need if I want to control it with a RC-receiver?
I have also seen that you can mount the OWI 535 robotic arm on a 4WD rover android as you can see on the attached image.
PS: when I tried to paste a link from a video I´ve seen on YouTube it did not worked. When I click on the icon where you can paste links nothing happens the link is not there. I think something is wrong with the icon.
The only accessory for the 535 Edge is the USB computer interface.
Feel free to paste the URL for the YouTube video and we’ll take care of formatting.
You would need a DC motor controller which accepts RC input. These are often sold for individual motor control or dual motor control.
