Low-Cost Robot Arms for the Robotic Operating System (ROS) and MoveIt

Abstract

It is not uncommon for students in high school and college to design and build low cost robot arms. This paper summarizes the results of an undergraduate assignment to design and build a low cost robot arm, as well as a robot arm controller. The robot arm controller uses accelerometers to control the motion of the robot arm. The robot arm controller can also be used to record and playback a sequence of motions for the arm. The robot arm controller was Arduino Uno Micro-controller based to keep costs down. A serial interface was also implemented for the arm controller so the arm could be controlled from a PC. The students had a mentor from industry to guide them in the design of their robot arm and controller. The mentor also evaluated the robot arm and similar designs for use with the Robotic Operating System (ROS) and Moveit software, for possible use of Moveit on future student projects.