Many a hacker has put together one of those cheap $30 robot arm kits you can get in just about any store with a section*labeled, “science”. *In an ongoing search for a cheap robot arm, [Larry] decided to modify one of them to be controlled with a PC through an Arduino. The article doubles as a really basic tutorial on dc motor control. On the site he gives a brief explanation of how to use H-bridges and a good explanation of how he wired them up for this purpose. He*eventually*goes on to add a*processing interface*to the project. The next step would be figuring out how to add some kind of position feedback, such as encoders. Though, if modifying an arm is not your style, [Larry] has another cool article on rolling your own robot arm cheaply*with some foam board and hobby servos.
Filed under: robots hacks
