Parts for robot arm, any help appreciated!

[Hal_Emmerich]

Hello! I was hoping I could get some advice for how to start building my robot arm.

I am making a robot arm powered by SMA(Shape Memory Alloy) wires. These wires contract when heated, and I am using them to pull a lever to pull up the lower arm like an elbow joint.

I am completely stuck as to where I can buy pieces to construct the upper arm and lower arm, and less importantly a joint for the elbow. I need to make it lightweight, so I was hoping to use plastic parts. Eventually, I will have to add a hand to the design.

Can anyone suggest any places to buy parts, or methods I can use to fabricate my own parts? I saw the link in the tutorial here for www.mcmaster.com. If anyone wants to share any info on McMaster or any other stores I would appreciate it!

Any kind of info is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[little-c]

find a local hobby shop and get some balsa wood, and glue a little hinge on to two bits of it. if your using SMA wires you wont have a lot of power.

[Hal_Emmerich]

Thank you for the tip! I was also worried about power issues, but my professors seem to think the wires should be capable of moving a significant amount of weight. The balsa wood sounds perfect for the prototype I am working on, so thank you for the help!