Robot arm software-what's suitable for light industrial application?

[Splint]

Hi Gang,
I've been curious for a while now about building a robot arm which could be used for light industrial applications such as spray painting, mig welding etc.
The mechanical side of things for me is easy, electrical a bit more difficult, and the software is a complete unknown. I understand there are pc based software packages with some toy robots but without having tried them I suspect they may not really be up to the job. I would like the option of "motion capture" if that's the correct term where the arm is moved physically by an operator and the feedback through the encoders is recorded to make a motion program.
Can anyone suggest any software which may be suitable for this type of application?

Thanks
Splint

 

[dknguyen]

THe motors you use for the motion capture will make or break whether or not you can use motion capture. WHat scale are you talking about? You say light industrial...does that mean this arm is going to cost thousands and thousands of dollars? Or are you juts using RC servos- because you cannot back drive RC servos to do motion capture. Think through the mechanics first. ELectronics tends to be "easily" swappable compared to mechanics which can be literally set in stone (or steel).

*An arm that can lift a spray can built by a hobbyist is quite an achievement due to the cost of moving something of that weight and the end of the lever arm with the weak motors available to a hobbyist's budget.

 

[Splint]

Thanks DK,
I was thinking of buying some used servos off ebay. What I have at the moment is a range of servos, which will most likely be too big or too small. I have some electrocraft e543s which are about 7 inches long and two inches diameter 48 volt. I also have a couple of SEM servos, they're about a foot long and 4 inches in diameter 200 volt if I recall correctly. I also have some steppers which might be ok but for motion capture encoders would need to be fitted which is achievable but probably cheaper and easier to buy used dc servos.
The mechanical side is easy for me, I have a tool room style lathe and a Bridgeport type mill, I'm nearing completion of a cnc router and have plans of doing metal casting.
I was thinking of a robot arm which could move along a track, with around 1000mm length from shoulder to elbow and the same for elbow to wrist. By the time it's done it could cost a couple of thousand dollars.
The main issue for me is the software to program/run the thing, I've searched around and there seems to be very little available in that area once you get beyond toys and research/experimental work.

Cheers
Splint

 

[ericgibbs]

hi,

Have a look thru these links, the first link is dealing with S/H industrial robot arms, the remainder cover some aspects of design and range of movement.

http://www.robotsltd.co.uk/robot-guide.htm

http://www.robot-welding.com/robots.htm

http://www.societyofrobots.com/robot_arm_tutorial.shtml

**broken link removed**