Author Topic: Building a simple robot..... need advice  (Read 1892 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline YazmanTopic starter

  • Beginner
  • *
  • Posts: 1
  • Helpful? 0
Building a simple robot..... need advice
« on: August 01, 2014, 11:56:57 PM »
I am a total "newbie" in this world of robotics.  I

 have spent the better part of two days trying to figure out how to make a simple robot that has an arm that goes down and back up at a specific angle and repeats this action every five seconds.

The function of the robot is to continuously tap on a specific part of an iPad screen and prevent it from falling asleep.

From what I can gather (and may I mention I have never done this before) I need to compile the following parts......

1.  Servo Motor
2.  Servo controller
3.  Power source
4.  Robot Arm (C-channel aluminum)
5.  Software to program the servo controller.

All the servo controllers that I find control multiple servos.  I don't need multiple servo control.

USB powered would be ideal.

Any advice on how to make this device cheaply please let me know.

Thanks!


Offline jkerns

  • Robot Overlord
  • ****
  • Posts: 270
  • Helpful? 12
Re: Building a simple robot..... need advice
« Reply #1 on: August 02, 2014, 11:33:40 AM »
I suspect that the simplest to program and low cost choice for controlling your servo would be one of the Arduino boards. They will have more capability than you need, but you aren't going to find anything much less expensive.

The Arduino will run off a USB and supply what you need for the pulse modulated signal to command a servo position, but I suspect that you will need a bit more juice for the actual servo power than you can get from a USB.

Many servo motor controlled arms that I have seen can be jerky and bouncy - you would want something that has some spring to it to actually touch the ipad.
I get paid to play with robots - can't beat that with a stick.

http://www.ltu.edu/engineering/mechanical/bachelor-science-robotics-engineering.asp

Offline DiegoChavez

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 33
  • Helpful? 0
Re: Building a simple robot..... need advice
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2014, 12:23:52 PM »
you can change the sleep settings on the iPad for it to never go into sleep mode. But if you want to build a robot I would get a servo and some type of vise to hold the servo on top of the IPad and then you can attach a stylus or something to the servo arm. And the rest is just about writing some simple code in the arduino. If you need any help with the wiring, design, or the coding I'll be more than happy to help you.

 


Get Your Ad Here