https://www.trossenrobotics.com/viperx-300-robot-arm.aspx. This link gives a specific overview of information on the arm and its features.
The arm uses DYNAMIXEL XM540-W270 and XM430-W350 servos.
The arm is controlled by the DYNAMIXEL U2D2 board.
This picture lists the different Servo ID Numbers for the ViperX 300 Robot Arm
The DYNAMIXEL servos can be controlled using ROS
Steps to install ROS software
1. Use a Linux Computer (Or boot any computer from a USB drive with Linux installed)
*ROS only works on the Linux Operating System2. Install ROS by following steps 1-7 under Quickstart on this Github page: https://github.com/interbotix/interbotix_ros_arms
1. Plug the 12V (10 Amp) power cable into an outlet and insert the barrel plug into the barrel jack on the X-series power hub. The LEDs on the DYNAMIXEL servos should briefly flash red.
2. Plug the micro-USB cable into the U2D2 controller and connect it to your computer
3. Verify that the port shows up under the symlink "/dev/ttyDXL"
cd /dev
ls
Use the interbotix-examples directory to control the arm: https://github.com/Interbotix/interbotix_ros_arms/tree/master/interbotix_examples
This is one example on how the control the arm with a PS4 controller
1. Connect the PS4 controller to the Linux computer via Bluetooth
Press and hold the Share button and the PS button until the triangular LED starts rapidly flashing white
On the computer, go into Bluetooth settings and select "Wireless Controller"
2. Type the following command in the terminal:
roslaunch interbotix_joy_control joy_control.launch robot_name:=vx300
3. Control the arm using the following buttons:
4. To exit out of the program, go to the terminal and press CTRL + C:
*Make sure to manually hold the arm or place it in its home position before performing this step otherwise the arm will collapseWhen a servo is overloaded, the red LED on the motor flashes rapidly
Use the following steps to reset the servo
1. Exit out of the program
2. Unplug the micro-USB cable from the U2D2 controller
3. Unplug the 12V power cable from the barrel jack
4. Replug everything back into the arm