ARMazing! (Part Three: the nervous system)

In ARMazing! (Part Two: Dissecting and our Blue Print) we took out what we didn't need and decided on a strategic plan for the robot.


We decided that the hand will be placed at the end of the Mentor Arm. In the future (hopefully) it will look something like Figure 1. We created a naming methodology for the components in Mentor Arm. Then we decided to connect the motors and potentiometers to the existing front panel with banana plugs (Figure 2). More information is shown on Table 1.

Figure 1.  Mentor Arm and Hand

NAMING METHODOLOGY
Mentor Arm = The whole entire robot arm that we salvaged

Top Arm = The Part attached to the Hand (BLUE in Figure 1)
Bot (bottom) Arm = The Intermediate part (RED in Figure 1)
Under Arm = The Part bound to the base but rotates (GREEN in Figure 1)

Motor_1 = The Motor located under Mentor Arm, rotates the Under Arm.

Pot_1 = The Potentiometer for Motor_1 feedback.

Motor_2 = The Motor found in Bot Arm, rotates the Bot Arm.
Pot_2 = The Potentiometer for Motor_2 feedback.

Motor_3 = The Motor found in Top Arm, rotates the Top Arm.
Pot_3 = The Potentiometer for Motor_3 feedback.

Motor_4R = The Right Motor located at the end of Top Arm.
Pot_4R = The Potentiometer for Motor_4R feedback.

Motor_4L = The Left Motor located at the end of Top Arm.
Pot_4L = The Potentiometer for Motor_4L feedback.

Figure 2. Reusing these Banana jacks 

1- INPUT	2 - OUTPUT	3 - INPUT	4 - INPUT	5	6	7	8 - INPUT
Motor_4R Vcc	Pot_4R signal	Motor_4R Gnd	Motor_4L Vcc	X	X	X	Motor_4L Gnd
1 - OUTPUT	2 - INPUT	3 - INPUT	4 - OUTPUT	5 - INPUT	6 - INPUT	7 - OUTPUT	8 - INPUT
Pot_1 signal	Motor_1 Vcc(?)	Motor_1 Gnd(?)	Pot_2 signal	Motor_2 Gnd	Motor_2 Vcc	Pot_3 Signal	Motor_3 Vcc
Gnd	Gnd - INPUT	+5V - INPUT	+5V	1 - INPUT	2 - OUTPUT	3 - INPUT	4 - INPUT
X	Pot_2,3,4L,4R Gnd	Pot_2,3,4L,4R Vcc	X	Motor_3 Gnd	Pot_4L Signal	Pot_1 Vcc(?)	Pot_2 Gnd(?)

Table 1. Input Output configuration for the front panel banana jacks in Figure 2.

Next we will attempt to mount the hand on the Mentor Arm!