Construction of the arm:

Using a robotic arm:

The model number of this arm is: AL5A. This arm has the following:

- 4 Degrees Of Freedom (DOF); Wrist rotate optional.

- 5.75" median reach; 4oz lift capacity.

- All-aluminum contruction, SES-compatible.

The following picture gives a breakdown of the arm:

We are going to attach the following to the above robotic arm:

Second iteration (final iteration) of our Design Plan:

This is a simpler version of our old design that excludes the following: potentiometer, pvc pipes, vacuum pump, and the exoskeleton. This design contains 3 accelerometers connected by wires. This change doesn't affect our results and the output we want, but it makes the project simpler and efficient. 

First Iteration of our Design Plan:

In our original design we had 1 potentiometer (attached on the center of the chest ), 3 accelerometers (on the arm), connected by wires, and pvc pipes. We were also going to use a vacuum pump to hold on to different objects. This pump was originally composed of a balloon that contains: coffee grounds, pneumatic tubing, and a funnel. We could have used inertial sensors instead of potentiometer, but the idea of using a potentiometer was more cost effective. 

This is the vacuum pump that we were going to make in order to hold on to different objects. Click on the link below to view a video of this product:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GF9fP2SoU-k

We were also going to use a 3-D printer to print out the exoskeleton of the arm. The print out parts were going to be used to cover the sensors and wires. 

List of parts being used for the project:

This is a Linux computer, the size of a credit card, which can connect to the Internet and run software, such as Android 4.0 and Ubuntu. It can be complemented with capre plug-in boards to augment functionality. 

 

The Triple Axis Accelerometer combines a 3-axis gyroscope and a 3-axis accelerometer on the same silicon die. Together with the DMP (Digital Motion Processor), it helps us get rid of the cross axis alignment problems.