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PAROL6 Desktop Robot Arm

github.com

51–58 of 58 posts

Re: PAROL6 Desktop Robot Arm

#51
post #21

I tried to collect a rough overview of available robot arms a few years ago (with focus on low-cost/open-source ones).[0] If anyone has some pointers on other recent projects in the space, I'd love to hear about them! [0]: https://github.com/hobofan/collected-robotic-arms

Are you maintaining that list?

Depends on what you mean by that :D

As one can see the last commits are a few years old, and in the issues there are a few robot arms that I haven't worked in yet, which I want to do soon. However, I'd largely attribute the lack of activity to me not actually seeing a lot of new robot arms popping up. If there are any I'm missing or resources where one might regularly find some, I'm eager to hear about them and add them to the list!

Re: PAROL6 Desktop Robot Arm

#52
post #30

Hi guys I am the creator of PAROL6 arm. I was not aware of this community so if you have any questions feel free to ask me here. Also new video is up explaining more things. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiBCbHtvbpE&ab_channel=Sourc... Also anyone interested in building/buying it can sign up on these 2 forms for more updates. You can sign up here for beta testers (there are a few spots left: https://forms.gle/sZqHV…

Do you plan to publish the CAD and EDA source files?

Re: PAROL6 Desktop Robot Arm

#53
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been abusing it for 8 months straight and too be honest I was trying to break it. Software has a lot of safety features to not hit joint limits, speed limits, ESTOP is operational... Only problem is that robot has no brakes so during power loss it falls. I thought it will be fatal for robot to fall like that but it survived it multiple times. Only parts that brake are esthetics and covers. Also i thought that…

Is a possible solution to the arm “falling” to mount it upside down?

Brakes will be added in later design

Re: PAROL6 Desktop Robot Arm

#54
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was researching the Armatron last weekend and was surprised to learn then about the single-motor operation. It's quite a complex system of linkages and transmissions [0] to enable the six degrees of freedom. I suppose that explains why the toy is so noisy. I had no idea that was how it worked, must not have taken mine apart when it broke or I outgrew it or whatever happened. [0] http://www.jeff-z.com/pinball/toys/a…

Totally. It also highlights an interesting change in engineering and product development that has happoned in my lifetime. It used to be, when this Armatron was made, electronics and computers were magic and mechanical engineering, real complicated kind of mechanical stuff, was common and the slillset to do it was similarly common. In that world it makes sense to have the whole robot arm powered by one motor that con…

>Now days there are tons of cheap robot arms that have a servo motor for each joint, because servos are cheap and complex mechanics are not.

Servo motors aren't cheap at all. Encoders aren't cheap either, in what universe do you live? The RC toys don't count by the way, because the cheap RC servos are terrible.

A fly ball governer? Is this some kind of joke? How are you going to operate it in any orientation other than upright? Why would you even want to?

There are probably ways to build a control loop with discrete electronics components that is cheaper than a mechanical system like that. Heck, it is probably cheaper to build an entire CPU with discrete components and then program that.

The reason nobody knows this crap is because it is useless. Your pseudo nostalgia for an age that existed before your time is ridiculous.

Re: PAROL6 Desktop Robot Arm

#55
post #44
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The BOM file is in the repo I think: https://github.com/PCrnjak/PAROL6-Desktop-robot-arm/blob/mai... Looks like they forgot to update the link.

Does someone know how much this amounts to roughly?

I was wondering this, theres a comercial non opensource arm called Dobot, I wanted to know how they both compared

Re: PAROL6 Desktop Robot Arm

#56
post #23
post #13

I would love having one capable of unloading the dishwasher.

I've thought about building a robot to do that, but I think it would be cheaper to buy 2 or 3 dishwashers and modify them for use as cupboards. One will always be open for loading dirty stuff and another will always be open for retrieving clean stuff. btw ultrasonic cleaners are like miniature dishwashers and having one near my office room is very convenient for cleaning hardware compared to using the full-size dishw…

Just put the ultrasonic actuators onto your sink basin, and have a dish rack built in to it as well.

Fill with water & soap, insert dirty dishes.

Then when you head out for work in the morning, turn it on. let it buzz for 30 minutes or so, and then have a separate actuator drain the dirty water, refill and drain a second time as a rinse, and then drain again to let dry.

That would be what, $1200 in parts and a season of testing to make work?

Re: PAROL6 Desktop Robot Arm

#57
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've thought about building a robot to do that, but I think it would be cheaper to buy 2 or 3 dishwashers and modify them for use as cupboards. One will always be open for loading dirty stuff and another will always be open for retrieving clean stuff. btw ultrasonic cleaners are like miniature dishwashers and having one near my office room is very convenient for cleaning hardware compared to using the full-size dishw…

Just put the ultrasonic actuators onto your sink basin, and have a dish rack built in to it as well. Fill with water & soap, insert dirty dishes. Then when you head out for work in the morning, turn it on. let it buzz for 30 minutes or so, and then have a separate actuator drain the dirty water, refill and drain a second time as a rinse, and then drain again to let dry. That would be what, $1200 in parts and a season…

Hmm some potential problems:

I don't like the idea of having the dirty dishes right next to the clean ones so this would require at least 2 sinks so one can be loaded throughout the day

My desktop ultrasonic cleaner is so loud that I can't work in the same room. Transducers that can clean an entire sink (>10x volume) will likely be so loud that I can't work in the same building when it's running

If anyone in the building works from home, the unit will have to be soundproofed on all sides. That's way harder for a sink that's built into the countertop

Re: PAROL6 Desktop Robot Arm

#58
post #23
post #13

I would love having one capable of unloading the dishwasher.

I've thought about building a robot to do that, but I think it would be cheaper to buy 2 or 3 dishwashers and modify them for use as cupboards. One will always be open for loading dirty stuff and another will always be open for retrieving clean stuff. btw ultrasonic cleaners are like miniature dishwashers and having one near my office room is very convenient for cleaning hardware compared to using the full-size dishw…

Yeah, I came to the same conclusion: 2 dishwashers. But a robot arm would be much cooler.
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