Surgical Robot Arm Design Challenge
For this project a small team and I were tasked with designing a small robotic arm that could be controlled by a wireless remote to aid in moving tools during surgery in a sterilized operating room. The arm was suppose to have three degrees of movement. We were limited to about two weeks of class time and were only able to use VEX components.
Overall we were able to finish the project on time. much to our surprise the coding was very easy and we were able to make it work with little trouble. From the experience we learned how to map a remote controller to move the robot in different ways. What did give us some trouble was a weighting issue. The claw on the horizontal arm was fairly heavy for only one axle to support located in the center body. We often found that the arm slipped down occasionally. However we were able to add in a bonus fourth degree of motion to the robot by allowing the arm to extend horizontally. Over we were very happy with our result, but we would manage our time a little better next time.