GETTING TO GRIPS WITH A ROBOT ARM: THE RHINO XR-1
Date
1982-10-01
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Abstract
Most computer hobbyists know that their computers are
usually harmless enough. But things are changing now with the appearance
on the market of a growing number of small robot arm manipulators, targetted
at home hobbyists and basement workshops. One of the first is the Rhino XR-1
from Sandhu Machine Design. We have used one for several months and
would like to share with readers our experiences and provide some practical
handy tips.
The design philosophy behind the XR-1 has been ably described by
Sandhu (1982), its inventor. He covers some trade-offs implicit in the
design and describes various problems which had to be overcome during
its creation. The XR-1 manual (which can be obtained separately from the arm
itself) gives an excellent introduction to the operation and programming
of the arm. To complement this documentation we provide here an
independent review of how we have found the XR-1 to perform in practice,
and discuss some of the unexpected problems that were encountered and
how we solved them. It is worth saying at the outset, however, that we
have been more than satisfied with the device and regard Sandhu's
engineering as a fine piece of work.
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Computer Science