Robot arm using PIC16F877A

[programmer36]

Hi as per topic, im trying to make a robot with Microchip PIC16F877A with 5DOF.
This will be my first robot and in fact first time playing with servo motor.
It came to my mind if it possible to control robotic arm with this PIC? Should I get a different PIC?

Im still in the research stage, any inputs/help/ideas/future challenges/comments pls share.

Thanks alot forummers.:grin:

 

[udayan92]

This might be helpful,from a reference point of view...

https://www.societyofrobots.com/robot_arm_tutorial.shtml#DOF

I don't know much about robotics using micro-controllers,but if you are going to make a robotic arm with 5 degrees of freedom,the complexity involved in it,probably cannot be handled by a micro-controller. probably...I think you should use an FPGA...

 

[123jack]

It does depend on exactly what you want to do.
A simple plastic toy arm that can do a few rough motions would be ok.
Much more would be beyond that chip.
If you want to use a simple PIC chip the first thing I'd suggest is moving away from the 16F family
for memory banking reasons. Actually I'd find it hard to justify using them at all now.

I'd use microchips MAPS system to have a browse - you can get a good idea of the costs
and benefits of various PIC chips that way.
And as udayan suggests - PIC might not be a good way to go at all.... depending...
(And remember I'm a big fan of PIC chips saying that)

Before anyone can really advise you though we'd need to know exactly what you are trying to do
and at what precision.
Remember motion interpolation is math - and PIC chips aren't really good at that at the low end.
(Its not what they are for)

 

[programmer36]

Thx for the reply guys. Its a simple one. Just to grab and place back an object at the other end. As I know PWM is needed to control servo, and PIC16F877A does have a PWM pin. The precision is not an issue.
I attach a picture here which looks like the robot i planned.

 

[123jack]

Again - you need to define it.
What are you going to grab and put back - shape & materials can have an effect
how heavy is it
what are you going to use to "grab it" AND let go
how is the arm going to find it
how is it going to find the destination and at what precision and how fast -what about latency issues etc?
what servo's do you have and how many -
There's a basic intro to "degrees of freedom" here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrees_of_freedom_(mechanics)
You need to define the parameters then choose the tech capable of doing it. we cant say
if a particular chip can do a job without the job definition. You may only need a simple controler (I wouldnt use that particular chip -
there are better PIC's and similar or lower price with regard to PWM) OR you may find a specialist servo controler can do the job better for you.
"just grab and place back an object" is not as simple as it sounds -

On the other hand if you're just playing around to experiment - try it and see what you can make it do.
You could get really clever.

I suspect however - some more reading up will help you work it out then you can come back with specific
questions that we can answer.