Spherical Parallel Manipulator

Last crawled date: 4 years, 2 months ago

Inspired by videos on YouTube, I decided to make a functional model of a spherical parallel actuator. The 3-axes are controlled by small SG90 servomotors, which should be locally available. The top stage has 3mm diameter holes placed radially outwards in 12 directions spaced 12mm apart, so that other "gadgets" can potentially be mounted.
Attached Arduino demo code will get the Manipulator up and running. It will demonstrate what kind of motions the Manipulator can make. It is only a demo so it will need some upgrade in order to meet specific needs.
I considered designing the Manipulator with bearings for smoother motion, but I preferred designing something with minimal purchased parts, with the hope that it will be accessible to a wider audience. I kept the locations of the screws to a minimum (only key locations such as the motor mount and the connection between the Links), and introduced using the 1.75mm Filament as a "locking Pin" to prevent things from falling apart.
To Print:
Base
Drive Gear : 3ea
Gear Level 1
Gear Level 2
Gear Level 3
90deg Link : 3ea
Link Level 1
Link Level 2
Link Level 3
Motor Bracket : 6ea
Link Pin : 3ea
Stack Pin
Stage Pin : 3ea
Top Stage
Washer : 6ea
Items to Purchase:
SG90 Servo-motor, or equivalent : 3ea
Servo-horns for servo-motor : 3ea
M2 Screw (12mm or 15mm) : 3ea
M2 Nut : 3ea : 12ea
M3 Screw (12mm or 15mm) : 12ea
M3 Screw (20mm) : 6ea
M3 Nut : 18ea
Assembly and demo video is available on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj0oFC73A5c