Hi guys I am the creator of PAROL6 arm. I was not aware of this community so if you have any questions feel free to ask me here. Also new video is up explaining more things. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiBCbHtvbpE&ab_channel=Sourcerobotics">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiBCbHtvbpE&ab_channel=Sourc...</a>
Also anyone interested in building/buying it can sign up on these 2 forms for more updates.<p>You can sign up here for beta testers (there are a few spots left: <a href="https://forms.gle/sZqHVLPoMJxuVAyJ9" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://forms.gle/sZqHVLPoMJxuVAyJ9</a>
This is general form for people interested in control boards, kits, or whole robots:
<a href="https://forms.gle/XkSvStwnQxw1f8xL8" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://forms.gle/XkSvStwnQxw1f8xL8</a>
I wonder how this compares to the AR4 robotic arm ( <a href="https://www.anninrobotics.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.anninrobotics.com</a> ). The AR4 isn't truly hardware open source, but my understanding is that it's software agnostic.<p>My biggest question is the full cost for the PAROL6. Their BOM link is 404.<p>I can build the AR4 completely for less than $2000, and for education, that's a very small price for a semi-useful, full 6 axis arm. (Currently, to give a comparison, one of my suppliers is offering an educational cobot solution for $40,000. Yes, it's truly "industrial," and is a complete self-contained solution, though it's only capable of 2kg if I recall correctly. This was what they were pushing for the educational market.)<p>As someone who is trying to implement robotic training in education, with a budget that approaches zero, I just need something cheap that students can hack/break/fix without costing a fortune in maintenance costs.<p>One of the cool thing about the AR4 is that it can come as a complete kit, either as 3d printable or aluminum frame. and they work with Steppers Online to provide the steppers and drivers as one package. If you work for a school system, this type of solution solves a lot of logistical issues.<p>That said, if this thing is truly low cost, let's say under $1000, for it's capabilities, it could be a very nice project.
I tried to collect a rough overview of available robot arms a few years ago (with focus on low-cost/open-source ones).[0]<p>If anyone has some pointers on other recent projects in the space, I'd love to hear about them!<p>[0]: <a href="https://github.com/hobofan/collected-robotic-arms">https://github.com/hobofan/collected-robotic-arms</a>
The instructions detail everything including the exact screws/nuts needed. EXCEPT the most important parts, the actual motors! It doesn't give any specs or names or a thing for those. Incredible.<p>Also the BOM info is gone.
The video of the robot arm in action: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiBCbHtvbpE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiBCbHtvbpE</a><p>Very impressive repeatability and very smooth movement for a 3d printed arm.
Interesting project.<p>I wonder how the rigidity holds up over time. Working at a robotics company, the mechanical engineers had to overcome quite some challenges to find a compromise between, precision, speed and repeatability.<p>And that was with a metal frame.