Thread: Mini-Me robot arm controller
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Unread 19-10-2005, 10:51
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Matt Leese Matt Leese is offline
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Re: Mini-Me robot arm controller
We tried to implement such a controller last year. The mechanical parts of the mini-arm were great. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to get the software working in a nice enough fashion. It was implemented as a PID controller controlling two separate arm joints.

The upper arm had a tendency to wave in the air a bit. This was some form of oscillation that we had trouble removing. The real problem was that the arm didn't respond fast enough. The operator would move the arm but it would take a bit to respond. When we changed the PID controller to respond faster, it would respond too fast and oscillate wildly.

In many ways, I think our problem was inexperience in developing such a controller. Just be advised in may not be as easy as you'd think.

Matt