I got an amazing deal for this arm on Craig's List. It's missing the controller and I'm unwilling to pay the amount of $$ those things go for, so why not build one from scratch? How hard could it be? ;)
Details
This arm is a CRSPLUS A460.
I'll add more when I get a chance....
Components
3×
PM Field Servo Motor
MH3515-228D - The arm has three of these: base rotation, segment 1 actuation and segment 2 actuation. They're from Cleveland Machine Controls.
3×
SUMTAK Differential Linear Encoder
LDA-051-1000 - These are the position sensors for the MH3515-228D servo motors.
3×
HP Rotary Encoder
HEDS-5310 - These are the position sensors for the servo motors in the arm extremity. Each one is coupled to a 24v DC servo motor.
Tonight I pulled out the scopes and power supplies and analyzed the HEDS-5310 single-ended incremental encoders that are used on the extremities of the arm. There are five wires: Vcc, GND, Chan A, Chan B and Chan I. I was able to use my Saleae Logic 8 analyzer to confirm the output of the encoder so I know that they work and that I'll be able to process their output.
Wow the time flies! We had our first son shortly after this post and our second a couple years later. I'm now so tired I can't even begin to tell you. I still have the arm and I've even managed to pick up the control box along the way. Since I have the teach pendant I pretty much have everything except for the cables and the time to do anything with it. The kids are getting more self-sufficient by the day so there's still hope. One of these days...
I'm putting this one on my robotics list in hopes that you will add more documentation. Great project but I want more details!!! http://hackaday.io/list/2456-Robotics
Wow the time flies! We had our first son shortly after this post and our second a couple years later. I'm now so tired I can't even begin to tell you. I still have the arm and I've even managed to pick up the control box along the way. Since I have the teach pendant I pretty much have everything except for the cables and the time to do anything with it. The kids are getting more self-sufficient by the day so there's still hope. One of these days...