Arduino Education has just launched the Braccio++ robotic arm for advanced students in high school or at university in order to let them experiment with a 6 DOF, industrial, assembly line-inspired robot.
The new robotic arm provides an upgrade to the Tinkerkit Braccio robot and has been designed to assist in teaching real-world manufacturing techniques,topics such as physics and robotics, and concepts like motions, forces, torque, gear ratio, stability, and weight of payload.
The Arduino Braccio++ is comprised of the Braccio carrier board equipped with an Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect that controls six Arduino RS485 Smart Servo Motors with specifically four SR418D servo motors for the arm joints, and two SR312 servo motors for the claw. Four lessons and two projects are included in the kit, and it’s made for up to three students.
Arduino says the new robotic arm is made of recycled and eco-friendly materials with the plastic parts using Ecoallene, instead of the ABS plastics. EcoAllene is a plastic material obtained from recycled polylaminate found in food cartons.
If you’ve ever used the earlier Tinkerkit Braccio robot, you may be interested in the main updates and improvements made to Braccio++:
- Different carrier board with RS485 serial communication, an LCD screen, and a joystick
- An Arduino board is included
- Instead of classic servo motors, the kit includes Arduino smart motors
- USB-C powers the carrier and motors, and can be used for charging your computer
- Bigger base on which to mount the Arduino Braccio++
- Improved packaging, allowing you to mount and transport your Arduino Braccio ++ in the box
- New online content
I was unable to find links to the lessons and projects, so I’d assume those are only available to people who purchased the kit. The Arduino library for the robot is available on Github, and hardware documentation for the carrier board can be found on Arduino website.
Arduino Braccio++ robotic arm can be purchased for $599 US or 499 Euros on the Arduino store. The original Tinkerkit Braccio robot is sold out in the US but discounted on the European store for €159,20.
Via Hackster.io
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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