Devlog 3: The arm has been prototype

Hello again guys and today we have another devlog. Sorry it’s been a while since my last devlog but I have a lot of exciting stuff to show.

First, I have finally figured out inverse kinematics!

Law of cosines was a bit annoying to learn and to apply considering my method is finnicky but I managed to get all my servos to move into position based on real time, and my turntable also works!

Problem 1: Power Draw

I severely underanticipated the amount of power this would draw, and my psu can provide 9v1a stepped down to 5v wheras my arm needs over 5v6.5a. In order to solve this, I will get a PD trigger board which I will hook up to a PCA9865 module in order to power this. I also learned a ton about SDA and SCL signalling, which I thought was like CAN but I was completely wrong

Second, we have a basic code!

Although we still do not have a webend for me to run machine learning on this, I am able to manipulate all my servos.

Third, I am working on objects to pick up.

One of the problem with the power draw is that my servos will jitter and release certain items. In order to circumvent this I will design an object and claw similar to Samples in the FTC game Into The Deep for 2024-25. This way I have something to dig into

What’s next?

Next up I have to work on a webend that way I do not have to constantly be plugged into my ESP-32
I have to wire up my PCA9865 (the SCL SDA will save me so so many wires)
And lastly implement machine learning! Adios my friends!

Devlog 3: Starting to build

Yesterday my P2s was delivered! I’m excited to use it and I have begun printing some parts.
One thing I did not think about when designeing my parts is tolerences, especially for 3d printing. Today I spent some time on OnShape redesigning 2 of my parts for printing. More parts to follow, but this is is finally being built!
Unfortunately I have not ordered my servos yet (although I do have my stepper motor) so we will have to wait on Amazon for that.
Tomorrows devlog should have some parts assembled.
Thanks for reading!

Devlog 2 : A bit of wiring and code

Today I begun the wiring for it. Since I am still awaiting my amazon order for parts and my 3d printer, I found a tool called Cirkit Designer where I could wire my parts up, and program a few of them.

Unfortunately, my ULN2003 driver does not have simulation, but atleast I can wire it so that I have a reference for my program. This way, I know what parts to order

Alongside this, I began programming this. I am coding this in VSCode with Pymakr, that way I can code this in a language I am already familiar with instead of having to switch to C++, which I have never used.

I will continue to work on first controlling the servos and motors raw using an arduino I have lying around, but I will try to get my true code done soon.

Devlog 1 : The arm begins

I finished building my first prototype of the arm. This is going to likely be my base for the whole project until I am able to buy parts and a 3d printer for this project.

Configuration

Currently here is the configuration
Base is driven by a 28BYJ-48 Stepper motor
Shoulder is driven by a MG996R
Elbow Wrist and Claw are driven by MG90S

This should hopefully lead to a maximum range of 10-11 inches with a max load of around 200-250 grams.

Hopefully, I will be able to power this with an ESP32-S3 in order to run machine learning algorithms and inverse kinematics that way I can identify and pick up objects autonomously.

THE ROBOT IS DONE

My last devlog didnt show some of the behind the scenes stuff I had done outside of the intake but I was able to derive a shooter based off some of my previous designs and I created a magazine and shooter! I am finally ready to publish this project!

Intake added to the robot

Its a vector wheel and grip wheel intake that sticks out around 2 inches out, hopefully this is wide enough so that we can get 3 artifacts at once. lmk if yall do ftc or frc!

Half of drivetrain done. Figured out how to add sketches and do pocketing.