Robot Arm + Mecanum Wheel Base = Versatile Robotics Package

Roughly a month ago we saw a Mecanum Wheel Robot that is able to move forwards, backwards, and turn or slide left or right, powered by…

Jeremy Cook
5 years agoRobotics

Roughly a month ago, we saw a Mecanum wheel robot capable of moving forwards, backwards, and turning or sliding left or right, powered by four stepper motors. It’s a neat robot, but creator Dejan at How To Mechatronics, wasn’t finished with the build (if such a thing is actually ever finished). Since then, he’s made a ‘minor’ improvement to the boxy-shaped robot, attaching a robotic arm that uses six servos for control, along with a rather clever one-servo clamping mechanism.

As with the first build, everything is controlled by an onboard Arduino Mega board, using a custom motor driver shield. The shield includes an LM350 voltage regulator to handle the 5V requirements of the six servos, kept cool with the help of a fan and heat sink.

User interface is handled via an expanded version of the previous iteration’s custom Android app. This sends the Arduino numerical commands over Bluetooth, which are translated into movements. A neat feature is that in addition to manual control, an operator can save a series of movements using the app, then have it repeat it over and over. This is demonstrated by having it pick up a block and place it in a basket automatically, though wheel slippage and other factors mentioned in the video, proper repetition would likely be limited to a few cycles.

Jeremy Cook
Engineer, maker of random contraptions, love learning about tech. Write for various publications, including Hackster!
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