Robotic Arm with USB PC Interface

The Robotic Arm with USB PC Interface is a DIY kit of parts for building a mechanical robot arm. The kit was manufactured in Taiwan and available through eBay and Maplin. This arm has five degrees of freedom (DOF) with movement within the xyz planes. The base rotation is 270° from front and rear, and the second joint near the base has a 180° movement. The third joint (elbow) has 300° movement. The fourth joint (wrist) has 120° movement, and finally the gripper can hold objects of mass up to 100 g and 1.77-inches in size. In total, this arm design consists of five DC motors, and an LED light.

This kit was exclusive to Maplin; however, I seem to remember another very similar kit by Velleman, known as the KSR10, which has a similar design. There is also the OWI-535 which is an Edge kit, but very similar, and there are spare parts available for it through their website.

In this multi page article, we look at some of the design features of this robotic arm, and some interesting photographs, which might help you if you are constructing this kit.

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