Wood/Glass/Metal Wooden hydraulic mechanical arm

AI Thread Summary
A broken wooden hydraulic mech arm was discovered in a school’s art classroom and successfully repaired, showcasing its functionality through a demonstration video. This homemade device serves as an excellent example of robotics, emphasizing the importance of understanding mechanical principles over initial concerns about power supply specifications. The discussion highlights the educational value of such projects, suggesting that variations in control syringes could further illustrate concepts like mechanical advantage and range of travel. Overall, the mech arm is recognized as a fine demonstration rig, reflecting the craftsmanship of its original builder.
YoungPhysicist
Insights Author
Messages
350
Reaction score
203
TL;DR Summary
A wooden mech arm powered by four pairs of syringes
Yesterday, I found a device in the recycle bin of our school’s art classroom. It’s a broken wooden hydraulic mech arm someone built a couple years ago.

After some fixing and filling the syringes with water again, this is how it looks now:

93416ACC-8C6A-44DD-B6DA-EE3A13B9084A.jpeg


7BDDF637-01EB-42E0-8F4A-44EBA40CF7B6.jpeg


Here’s a video of it working:


I am aware of something very similar being sold on the market, but this is a homemade one, so really cool in my opinion.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Likes NTL2009, hmmm27, JBA and 5 others
Physics news on Phys.org
Whoever built this did a very nice job. It is a fine demo rig.
 
I agree, it would be an excellent demo of robotics.

It is so common that novice robot builders get hung up on questions of how much voltage, how much current. What this demo does very well is to show what can be done, and how it works, and that the power could be supplied in many ways. How to provide the power should never be the first question for a proposed robot.

Thank you for sharing that @YoungPhysicist .
 
  • Like
Likes YoungPhysicist
Thank you!
 
You could even make up a set of smaller and larger control syringes, to demonstrate the differing mechanical advantage vs range of travel.
 
  • Like
Likes YoungPhysicist

Similar threads

Replies
1
Views
4K
Replies
1
Views
10K
Replies
5
Views
4K
Back
Top