MeArm: Assignment & Turn In

Purpose

This assignment is intended for you to become familiar with motorized parts through a popular educational open-source project: the MeArm robotic arm. In the base project, you will gain experience with using hand tools and instructions to assemble a medium-sized device while also using trigonometry applied to servo motor control for the sake of writing python kinematics code. 

You will assemble the MeArm robotic arm and update the kinematics code to move it to a specified location in cylindrical (theta, r, z) space. For extensions, you are asked to make the arm move the USB camera. 

Assignment

• Build the MeArm and install the necessary software as described below.

• Calibrate the MeArm using the calibration spreadsheet below. 

• Demo the operation of the MeArm to either the TA or ULA present in lab. 

• When done with the steps listed above, submit the calibration sheet and demo code to the Google Form below.

Use the Demo program as a starting point. For example,

a) Open and close the claw. 

b) Move the MeArm claw along the 3 axes in 50 mm increments. For instance, start with Z at 50 then move to 100 then 150. 

c) Determine the locations of the meArm claw at the beginning and end of each movement. Measure the distance between the locations to record movement along that axis, ideally in the shape of a three-dimensional box. 

The following program to demo the MeArm can be used as an example: Dr. Utzinger's Example Code

Grading

Rubric 

Submission

Background Reading

Please read: 

1) https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/hobby-servo-tutorial to understand the functioning of servo motors.

2) https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/motors-and-selecting-the-right-one to understand general principles how electrical motors work.

3) https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/pulse-width-modulation to understand how pulse width modulation works.