<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></head><body>Brian, I have one of the OWI "walmart" Arms, i got as a gift a few years ago. Since you're not coming tonight, i can bring it in next month. If you want to see what it looks like in person. I dont have the usb attachment, but I'd probably skip that anyways, i think it uses custom, Windows inly software drivers. Your better off hooking up to the pi via gpio.<div><br></div><div>I think sensors could be attached to it, i think ive seening on the web somewhere, but honestly, I think the MeArm would be a better arm for your use case, being servo-based, it's much easier to control.</div><div><br></div><div><br><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div></div><br><br>-------- Original message --------<br>From: Rodney Radford via TriEmbed <triembed@triembed.org> <br>Date: 2/8/2016 5:12 PM (GMT-05:00) <br>To: Pete Soper <pete@soper.us> <br>Cc: TriEmbed Discussion <triembed@triembed.org> <br>Subject: Re: [TriEmbed] Robotic Arm <br><br><div dir="ltr">Sorry for two messages back to back... but the USB controller just allows pushing the buttons to move each joint, there is no feedback on any of the joints.<div><br>So you can tell it to move clockwise or counterclockwise on each motor, but you cannot tell it to move to 85 degrees, or to move to a specific spot in 3D space. To do that would require adding feedback at each motor, and without seeing the arm up close, i am not sure how difficult a task that would be (is there room for a sensor on each joint?).</div><div><br></div><div>Feedback will be needed to handle the task Brian mentioned of stacking blocks...</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Feb 8, 2016 at 5:04 PM, Rodney Radford <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ncgadgetry@gmail.com" target="_blank">ncgadgetry@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Yes, the arm is $51.51 from Walmart, but then you need to buy the USB extension kit as a separate item and it is about $33.90 (also at Walmart).<div><br></div><div>Still cheaper, but by the time you buy both the total is $85.41.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Feb 8, 2016 at 4:24 PM, Pete Soper via TriEmbed <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:triembed@triembed.org" target="_blank">triembed@triembed.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">(quick search)<br>
<br>
It appears you can get the arm described in the article below from the Walmart web site for around fifty dollars:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Raspberry-Pi-and-Wiimote-controlled-Robot-Arm/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.instructables.com/id/Raspberry-Pi-and-Wiimote-controlled-Robot-Arm/</a><br>
<br>
-Pete<span><br>
<br>
On 02/08/2016 03:51 PM, Grawburg via TriEmbed wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Won't get to the meeting tonight so I'm asking my question here.<br>
<br>
I'm looking for a robotic arm that's a bit more robust the the Maplin kits I've seen on line. Of course, it will need to be<br>
connected to a Raspberry Pi and programmable with Python. I'm looking for something that can be programmed to pick<br>
up small blocks and stack them to make a something like a square. It should be in the $75-$100 range...I will probably<br>
end of using 4 for the summer class.<br>
<br>
So far I only find Maplins or units that are too expensive.<br>
<br>
Any suggestions?<br>
<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
Brian Grawburg<br>
<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
<br></span><div><div>
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