Cover image for Motion Controlled Arm

Motion Controlled Arm

Build a motion controlled robotic arm using a Raspberry Pi and a camera.


 4 March 2024   |     1 minute read   |   By Kevin McAleer   |   Share this article on

Video

For every project I create, I often make a corresponding YouTube video. Sometimes, there might be more than one video for a single project. You can find these videos in this section.

Explore more through this this dedicated video.

Work in progress - more to come soon

Introduction

I’ve wanted to produce those cool pan shots you see on high production videos for a while now, and I’ve been thinking about how to do it. I’ve seen a few different ways to do it, but I think the best way is to use a motion controlled robotic arm.

So this project is about how to create a motion controlled robotic arm using a Raspberry Pi and a camera.

Bill of Materials

Item Description Price Qty Total
Stepper Motors NEMA 17 Stepper Motors - Pack of 5 (Amazon) £35.00 1 £35.00
Connectors Flange Coupling Connectors (Pack of 4) £7.99 2 £15.98

Build Log

Date Notes
6 March 2024 * Parts take a Long time to print (14 hours for 1 part of the Elbow)
* Dr Chris Parrott is concerned the design will not be structurally strong enough, suggests using Servos for simplicity
* May be a bit large and slightly- over-engineered
08 March 2024 * Had a call with Viam - they are interested in the robot arm for use with the Viam app.
* May need to buy some bearings to make joints smoother and take some of the load off the motor

3D Models

Here are the 3D printable STL files:

Arm B - Red Side

Arm B - Red Side

Arm B - White Side

Arm B - White Side

Arm A - Red half

Arm A - Red Half

Arm A - White Half

Arm A - White Half