Pushing the boundaries

Lynxmotion Robot Arms
1

Recently I purchased an AL5D 4DOF Robotic Arm; also I have a Lego Mindstorm Ev3 kit and a Tetrix MAX robotics kit including a HiTechnic Servo Controller HiTechnic HiTechnic Servo ControllerMotor Controller and a HiTechnic Servo Controller

My little proof of concept project will have the AL5D arm mounted on a mobile Tetrix platform. One of the features of the Lego EV3/Tetrix integration is that they have a HiTechnic Servo Controller. I would imagine that instead of using the SSC-32U servo controller that came with the AL5D, I could make use of the HiTechnic Servo controller. In that way I could program everything through the use of the Lego Mindstorm EV3 brick.

Has anyone tried something like this?

Have a great week and keep having fun.

2

Don’t see any reason why it can’t be done, but not aware of anyone who has done it before and posted about it.

3

Thanks Coleman

If I get it to work I will let you know. It may expand some other users ideas on building robots. BTW after I get this to work I will be working with the Emotiv Insight neuroheadset emotiv.com/insight.php to control all the devices by thought. I am definitely not bored.

Take care and have a great week.

Doug

4

There’s a lot of potential for using different input devices such as gesture control, thought control etc. Hopefully one day soon, all of these will work together with biometrics and VR.

5

I have the MYO gesture control wristband from Thalmic Labs. My little project is a model electric wheelchair using the Tetrix kit, with some Mindstorm sensors on-board and a seat that can be raised into a standing position (there are real electric wheelchairs that do this). I will add the AL5D robotic arm to this platform and a small tablet PC and hopefully drive everything by thought.

If you are asking why; my wife died a few years back from ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) and I had started building some technology aids to help her communicate when she lost the use of her hands and voice and this proof-of-concept project continues my work to help others. I will be sharing this with The Stonybrook University in New York where I became recently involved in a think tank there. All from the comfort of my home in Brisbane Australia. If we get this integrated solution to work then hopefully we can upscale it to real-world devices.

6

Really looking forward to seeing you experiment with other biometric devices too… great project!