Arivved in a short number of days and in a very good package. Not assembled yet but all the parts look in good conditions.

Arivved in a short number of days and in a very good package. Not assembled yet but all the parts look in good conditions.

Arivved in a short number of days and in a very good package. Not assembled yet but all the parts look in good conditions.

I found the following regarding the Arduino software: - The software seems to work well BUT the software is NOT the same as any of the .ino files contained in the download referenced in the instructions - Manipulator Suite V2.0 Resource Pack. - Hence if you want to experiment with the firmware in the Resource Pack, it can be a good idea to purchase a second ARDUINO UNO and use that for the experiments. - While the kit includes an IR remote, the firmware installed in the kit does not seem to have the IR program. - The IR codes from the remote do not match the IR codes used in the IR software in the Resource Pack. - The Resource Pack has two main programs, mearmJoystick.ino and armbotJoystickB.ino - mearmJoystick.ino produces similar behaviour to the pre-installed software but is inferior. NOT recommended unless you do a substantial re-write. With the pre-installed software and mearmjoystick.ino, the joysticks directly control the servos as described in the instructions. - The armbotJoystickB software operates in a very different way. The joysticks are used to set the position of the gripper in terms of x, y and z co-ordinates. The left joystick horizontal is used to increase/decrease the x co-ordinate. The left vertical is used to set the z co-ordinate and the right joystick vertical is used to set the y coordinate. The right horizontal is used to open/close the gripper. If you change one coordinate, at least 2 and sometimes 3 servos will operate to re-position the gripper to the new point in 3D space. Sitting behind the Robot Arm, the x axis is sideways, the z axis points ahead, and the y axis is vertical. Lots to explore with this software - very educational.

I found the following regarding the Arduino software: - The software seems to work well BUT the software is NOT the same as any of the .ino files contained in the download referenced in the instructions - Manipulator Suite V2.0 Resource Pack. - Hence if you want to experiment with the firmware in the Resource Pack, it can be a good idea to purchase a second ARDUINO UNO and use that for the experiments. - While the kit includes an IR remote, the firmware installed in the kit does not seem to have the IR program. - The IR codes from the remote do not match the IR codes used in the IR software in the Resource Pack. - The Resource Pack has two main programs, mearmJoystick.ino and armbotJoystickB.ino - mearmJoystick.ino produces similar behaviour to the pre-installed software but is inferior. NOT recommended unless you do a substantial re-write. With the pre-installed software and mearmjoystick.ino, the joysticks directly control the servos as described in the instructions. - The armbotJoystickB software operates in a very different way. The joysticks are used to set the position of the gripper in terms of x, y and z co-ordinates. The left joystick horizontal is used to increase/decrease the x co-ordinate. The left vertical is used to set the z co-ordinate and the right joystick vertical is used to set the y coordinate. The right horizontal is used to open/close the gripper. If you change one coordinate, at least 2 and sometimes 3 servos will operate to re-position the gripper to the new point in 3D space. Sitting behind the Robot Arm, the x axis is sideways, the z axis points ahead, and the y axis is vertical. Lots to explore with this software - very educational.

I found the following regarding the Arduino software: - The software seems to work well BUT the software is NOT the same as any of the .ino files contained in the download referenced in the instructions - Manipulator Suite V2.0 Resource Pack. - Hence if you want to experiment with the firmware in the Resource Pack, it can be a good idea to purchase a second ARDUINO UNO and use that for the experiments. - While the kit includes an IR remote, the firmware installed in the kit does not seem to have the IR program. - The IR codes from the remote do not match the IR codes used in the IR software in the Resource Pack. - The Resource Pack has two main programs, mearmJoystick.ino and armbotJoystickB.ino - mearmJoystick.ino produces similar behaviour to the pre-installed software but is inferior. NOT recommended unless you do a substantial re-write. With the pre-installed software and mearmjoystick.ino, the joysticks directly control the servos as described in the instructions. - The armbotJoystickB software operates in a very different way. The joysticks are used to set the position of the gripper in terms of x, y and z co-ordinates. The left joystick horizontal is used to increase/decrease the x co-ordinate. The left vertical is used to set the z co-ordinate and the right joystick vertical is used to set the y coordinate. The right horizontal is used to open/close the gripper. If you change one coordinate, at least 2 and sometimes 3 servos will operate to re-position the gripper to the new point in 3D space. Sitting behind the Robot Arm, the x axis is sideways, the z axis points ahead, and the y axis is vertical. Lots to explore with this software - very educational.