I work in a facility that does high pressure testing on various valves, anywhere from 3" to 28" in size. Recently we have revamped safety requirements, and for good reason of course. Nobody is allowed near the test area while the valves are under pressure. Since the test stand is fully enclosed, we need a way to look around inside, as well as deliver a soapy solution onto parts of the valve to check for leaks. I am tasked with delivering a cost effective solution, and since my payload will be very light, I feel DYI might be the way to go. We have 5 test stands, so conventional professional robotic arms would be overkill and not to mention expensive for just holding a camera and a spray nozzle. We have our own Mark forged 3d printer, so custom parts are easy for me to make. I have robotics experience, but it is limited. I have a ton of R/C experience.
My idea is to create a 6 axis (or more) robotic arm, with a payload of around 1lb. Using arduino to control everything. I would like the camera to be ‘the head of the snake’ so to speak, so controlling the arm is from it’s point of view. I could easily hook everything up and control one axis at a time but this isn’t efficient at all. This is where I get lost with programming. I’m sure there is a way to do it, that is why I have come to the experts. What do you guys think? Thanks for any help you are willing to give.