can an industrial robotic arm be of use?

[mashersmasher]

so at a local recovery center neer my house (glorified scrap yard) they have what looks like a welding arm that is at least 6 feet tall when extended for $800. there is no controller for it and it looks like it's got some rust on it but wouldn't that be a cool thing to work on? is it worth trying to mcguyver a controller for it assuming it's in working condition or is it way out of the league of the average electronics hobbiest?

 

[Krumlink]

Yes I would get it. You could clean it up and really have at it.

 

[dknguyen]

so at a local recovery center neer my house (glorified scrap yard) they have what looks like a welding arm that is at least 6 feet tall when extended for $800. there is no controller for it and it looks like it's got some rust on it but wouldn't that be a cool thing to work on? is it worth trying to mcguyver a controller for it assuming it's in working condition or is it way out of the league of the average electronics hobbiest?

As long as you don't need to get motors, gears, do any machining, and the project doesn't need BGAs, FPGAs, processors (anything that has really expensive development tools to be specific), >4 layer PCBs, or special material or impedance controlled PCBs, it's probably doable by an electronics hobbyist. Even then, some people have more resources than others.

Any idea what motors it uses? Or the power supply it's designed to run off of?

 

[mashersmasher]

don't know. i just saw it earlier when i stopped by. i don't even remember the model but i will look when i am there next. i'm going to see how much cash i have. i really want it! me and a friend want to work on it.

 

[HarveyH42]

Depends on how rough and weathered it looks, I'd probably offer around $500 for it. It's motors and gears (assuming someone hasn't removed them). Regardless of the origional controller, probably wouldn't be too tough to put in your own. Check it out good, kind of spendy for scrap metal, which is most likely what the scrap yard got it for, and a reason for it just sitting there. Some of the replacement parts could cost $800 or more. There was a surplus site with stuff like that, but very expensive. Will post a link if I remember, but it was a very long time ago. Might find something searching...

 

[arhi]

without intention to kill the thrill of getting a new toy, most of big robotic arms I had chance to c were at least partly (if not 90%) hydraulic. Without special tools, pumps etc working with hydraulic is pretty darn tough. If that is a scrap metal storage, it might be much more interesting to go there with a power-saw, chop the hand and take only "interesting" parts (joints, geears, encoders...) it should be cheaper and you will get only the parts you want / know how to / can control.

 

[HarveyH42]

I would think a welder would be more electronic. Hydraulic fluid, being an oil product... Also, it just needs positioning, not a lot of strength. Don't know how precisely you can control hydraulic stuff, or how quick, but doesn't seem the best choice for a welder. I don't know much about industrial robots, have only seen a few up close. Was more focused on the task, then the hardware. Pretty amazing.

 

[arhi]

@harveyh42 most ones I saw were mix of hydraulic and motor controlled .. the hydraulic is pretty precise from what I saw and pretty fast... anyhow .. I believe I outta mention it as few hobby enthusiast's (including me) would know what to do with hydraulic controllers. I dismantled one robotic arm 3 years ago (used to pure glue on some shells) it only head motor controlled parts at the last joint (hand/wrist) all other joints were "controlled" via hydraulic cylinders.

 

[bryan1]

If this robotic arm is out in the weather it will be for a good reason. either it's out of date or it's stuffed. also without any controller most people will have 2 chances of getting it working (hint: one is buckleys)


for $800 it sounds like an expensive boat anchor.

Sorry if I sound negative but I'd hate to see people spend that type of money only to find after 6 months of trying and if they can get $50 if there lucky in scrap back on the initial outlay.