Mouse Controlled Manipulator Arm

[Oleg] worked out a way to use his USB mouse to control this manipulator arm. Using a Lynxmotion AL5D (we’ve seen the AL5A previously) he drives the six servos with an Arduino servo shield. A USB host shield handles the HID end for connecting the mouse. The video after the break says it all, [Oleg] has no problem picking up that figurine quickly and accurately. Sliding the mouse controls horizontal movement in all directions. The scroll wheel moves the claw up and down. And holding the left or right buttons what using the control wheel closes or rotates the claw. All we can say is: Bigger, BIGGER!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz_tgDD8FNw]

22 thoughts on “Mouse Controlled Manipulator Arm

  1. This is a perfect example of one of those things that is being used exactly as it was intended.

    An arduino and two shields controlling a premade robot arm…oh yay! I’ve never seen that before!

  2. Cool!
    Though I don’t know about using the wheel for all the fine movements, I think it wouldn’t been easier to have the L/R mouse buttons determine if the X/Y axis of mouse movement translate to the elbow movements. e.g. Left down + mouse Y movement would work better for arm Z movement, and/or Left+X for rotation…

  3. I generally agree with @Erik, I don’t think moving the wheel while holding down a button is very comfortable, or precise. Left-click for Z and rotate, and Right-click for gripper and wrist, I say.

  4. why not just use a track ball mouse, curves to the hand and better precision when moving and better for tight spaces. i use one every day i like it better than a regular soap bar mouse.

  5. that’s so cool
    an @ M4CGYV3R quit being a prick…the shields are not something that the layman has much use for it in it’s self is a piece of hacker tech there for a hack. Plus the mouse is a pointing device and is being used to control an another device without the use or direct aid of a computer or laptop so there for that is a hack as well. PPYHOYA

  6. Ok, new AMAZING idea:

    –  connect the robot arm to an iPhone 4 via Bluetooth.
    –  mount a small, outward-facing video camera onto the robotic arm, so you can see where the arm is via your Internet equipped iPhone 4, provided the video camera is wireless enabled as well.
    –  use the iPhone 4’s gyro to move the arm around and you would be able to SEE out of the wireless camera, from your iPhone 4’s screen.
    –  double-tap the iPhone 4’s screen and some switches appear, with enough room still available to be able to see out of the robotic arm.  The switches trigger the gyro’s control to and fro the entire robotic arm, and rotating, to rotate the grabber.
    –  with double-tapping also brings up a slider which can be used to close and open the grabber.

    Is this at ALL possible?!?!?!

  7. Hacking. Hacking never changes.

    The end of the hacking community occurred pretty much as we had predicted. Too many noobs, not enough parts or datasheets to go around. The details are trivial and pointless, the reasons, as always, purely nerdy ones.

  8. Definitely need one of the Logitech mice with the freewheel on it.
    That alone would smooth out the jitters quite a bit.

    I’d love to see an update with one being used in place of the standard mouse.

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