The goal of our 2d kinematics project was to create a 2d, stepper actuated, double parallel SCARA robot using an arduino, stepper drivers, stepper motors, and 3d printed parts alongside other hardware.
APRo Project 1 Design Proposal
Initially, we decided to go with an upside-down SCARA design so that we could have the most freedom possible using the parts available to us, but we soon realized designing the parts to handle the weight at the infills we needed to print the parts would make the project more complex than it already was.
We settled with a plate design, separated with standoffs and 3dp plates, with the arduino hard-mounted between the plates for compactness.
<fwd, inv. kinematics>
This image shows off the finished version of the assembly, with jointed assemblies ready to be assembled once our parts were printed. The main assembly used 8mm hexagonal standoffs and 4mm hex-bore bolts to secure all of the parts and used simple 8x22x7mm bearings to ensure smooth joint motion where necessary. 5/16 bolts happen to be just under the 8mm ID of the bearings and were used as makeshift shafts for the arms to ride on.
This image shows the compact assembly of the robot, with the traditional five-jointed arms as is common with double SCARA parallel robots and gives some essence to the math behind the inverse kinematics.
Ultimately, we ran into an issue with the hardware we were using, because the stepper drivers used weren’t equipped to drive the steppers in the software procedure programmed. We fried two of the drive boards in trying to test the robot and settled with a mechanical drive for proof-of-concept.
