Computer controlled robotic arm

The aim of this work is to develop an automated mechanical arm, say to serve a glass of water to an immobile patient, using a remote pressing operation. Control of the arm has been designed with limiting switches & a set of potentiometers & DC motors. Movements of different arm segments, their range & extent of movement has been pre-set with a provision for manual operations also. The robotic arm that is being developed is an inexpensive one, made out of lightweight mild grade aluminium. The arm has 3 degrees of freedom can reach and grab any object (up to 500 grams) within a span of 0.3 meters. The motor shafts are mechanically coupled to the respective potentiometers. The analog voltages obtained from the sensors/potentiometers are fed into the programmable IC. The inbuilt ADC converts these voltages to digital values. The data from the operator fed into the chip is now compared with stored reference values and appropriate signals are sent to motor driver IC´s which actuate the motors to bring the claw to the specified coordinates and grip/release the object (glass). The software to control the operation is written in a high level language converted into a Hex code and burnt onto the EPROM of the PIC. The computer is present for monitoring console operations.