Low-Cost Robotic Arm Kit (MECH 453/853)

If you're interested in using the low cost robotic arm kit, you may find this GitHub repository useful. It contains skeleton code that can be used as a starting point for your own projects, saving you time and effort in the development process. We published a conference paper on designing learning experiences using the robotic arm kit.

The robotic arm kit is primary robotics platform used in MECH 453/853: Robotics: Kinematics and Design at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The course provides a comprehensive introduction to the principles of robot mechanisms, dynamics, and control. Topics covered include serial chain kinematics, motion planning, manipulator mechanism design, multi-rigid-body dynamics, control system design, actuators, sensors, and embedded programming. Through bi-weekly assignments, students gain hands-on experience with modeling and simulation using MATLAB, as well as with real-world implementation on a robotic arm kit equipped with servo drives.

Additionally, the course includes a group-based project component in which students propose and execute a novel application, sensing approach, or mechanism using the robotic arm kit. The following are examples of potential project ideas from previous course offerings:

We are grateful for the support from the NASA Nebraska Space Grant (#80NSSC20M0112) and Nebraska Tobacco Settlement Biomedical Research Development Fund.