Robot Arm

Hardware

The arm is a Lynxmotion AL5D.

Operation

Currently the arm is controlled by interfacing directly with /dev/ttySx or /dev/ttyUSBx . The syntax for controlling this is by sending the following string to the board:

#<servo id> P<position> S<speed> T<time>

You can control multiple servos with one command

#<servo id> P<position> S<speed> #<servo id> P<position> S<speed> T<time>

S and T are optional parameters

Key:

• <servo id> - id of the servo being controlled (includes jaw)
• <position> - servo rotation position, generally between (500,2500)
• <speed> - speed of rotation; 100 means 10s to rorate 90°; leaving this off generates fast movement, 400 seems like a "safe" value?
• - time it takes to complete the motion in ms; specified once for the entire motion

if both speed(s) and time are specified, time is a "minimum" and speed is a "maximum", i.e. the motion will take at minimum T milliseconds, but servoA will move no faster than speed SA

Servo key and degree of motion

• 0 - ???
• 1 - ???
• 2 - ???
• 3 - ???
• 4 - ???
• 5 - ???

Purpose

The current purpose of the robot arm is to make an entity that can play chess against a human.

External Links

• a manual
• j3parker's 3D model of the arm