Week 8

Progress

This week progress was made on the rack and pinion system for controlling the robot arm's length. A plastic rack is currently mounted to the metal robot arm using a two bolts. A stepper motor with a pinion connected to the rack was mounted to the robot arm using zip ties. This is an initial prototype of the rack and pinion system assembled on the robot, but for practicality, will need to be made more robust to work.

Challenges

The rack and pinion system for controlling the robot arm isn't robust enough for full functionality in controlling the length of the robot arm. The pinion slips on the rack, because there isn't enough tension pressing the pinion down onto the rack. A metal rack and pinion may need to be used to ensure the robot arm can be accurately and precisely controlled using the stepper motor.

Action Items

• Write code to complete robot functionality
• Increase rigidity of robot arm and rack and pinion system for controlling robot arm length