It’s no secret that makers love robots, however many people are inclined to give attention to superficial qualities or value over the potential for actual work. My first robotic, a line-follower that I constructed after I was 12, was nice for studying soldering and dipping my toes into robotics, but it surely wasn’t helpful. I’m prepared to wager that was true to your first robotic, too. In case you’re able to step as much as an actual robotic that may do actual work, the Annin Robotics AR4 could also be preferrred and Thomas Sanladerer constructed one to judge.
The AR4 is a 6DOF robotic arm meant to suit someplace within the center on a scale between low cost “toy” robots and wildly costly industrial robots. It’s an open supply design created by Chris Annin for hobbyists, colleges, and small companies. Sanladerer estimated that it prices about $2,000 to construct, however that value will fluctuate dramatically based mostly on half sourcing.
Whereas that’s much more reasonably priced than the “actual” business robots in the marketplace, it actually isn’t a trivial amount of cash and Sanladerer needed to search out out if the AR4 is value the fee. He bought an entire AR4 MK3 combo package and a servo gripper components package from Annin Robotics, in addition to the stepper motor package from Stepperonline.
Sanladerer’s emotions in regards to the construct course of have been combined. The components — together with the CNC-machined components included within the package from Annin Robotics — have been made nicely, however there have been typically engineering selections made that may make professionals elevate their eyebrows. One instance that Sanladerer discovered was situations of grub screws pushing into bearing race surfaces. One other was the usage of immediately soldered connections as a substitute of connectors. These could also be minor points or they could be dealbreakers, relying in your perspective and wishes.
The testing after meeting appeared to replicate what Sanladerer discovered in the course of the construct. The AR4 does work and has some spectacular capabilities for the worth, but it surely additionally has flaws. Regardless of design selections supposed to scale back it, the robotic experiences vital backlash. And although there are encoders in every joint, closed-loop suggestions isn’t applied within the firmware. The result’s disappointing accuracy and repeatability.
That stated, Sanladerer was impressed with the software program, which works with the robotic’s Teensy 4.1 and Arduino Nano controllers. He says it was intuitive and highly effective, with loads of potential for a wide range of duties. However jittery motion made it tough to make use of in some conditions, corresponding to transferring a digicam to seize dynamic photographs.
If this robotic pursuits you, then you definitely’ll need to watch Sanladerer’s full video to get all the main points. That is the form of analysis that requires extra nuance than a typical shopper product, however the Annin AR4 is actually intriguing.