Twelve Dollar Robot Arm
A Facebook ad enticed me to order this $12 robot.
Figure 1. Robot Arm Product Page
The photo and description seemed too good to be true. I should have read the details more carefully. From GearBest
Unboxing
The box arrived a few weeks later. Inside were some laser cut acrylic parts and a bag of screws. The box contained no servo motors, no Arduino, no electronic components, and no instructions.
Figure 2. The Box of Robot Parts
The robot parts arrived in this tiny box.
When I looked again at the robot arm’s web page, I realized that I had ordered the bare-bones kit. For about twice as much money, I could have received a more complete kit with servos, an Arduino, and other useful components. Several product reviewers had made the same mistake. I found photos of the robot assembly process belowe the review comments.
Undaunted, I ordered four SG90 servos. They soon arrived.
Figure 3. The Box of Servos
The four SG90 servos arrived in this tiny box with horns and screws.
Servos
Before assembling the robot, I wanted to learn more about the servos. I built a servo test stand to hold the four servos. I bought a servo tester to test the servos independently from the robot structure and to rotate them to their home positions.
This project will continue when I finish with the servos.