Robotic Arm for Arduino Coding Programming 6DOF Hiwonder-xArm1S STEM Educational Building Robot Arm Kits, 6 AXIS Full Metal Robotic Arm Wireless Controller/PC/App/Mouse Control Learning Robot

This is a fun project I purchased for my nephew and I to build. Currently controlled using a remote control and iPhone app. Potential to control using an Arduino in the future as our skills improve

Let me preface with... I've been a tinker'er, gadget geek, etc my entire life. Played with some toy robot stuff a few years back, before the whole maker, STEM, 3d printing, arduino, rasp pi, etc craze and this stuff became affordable.A mid life career change and the quest to always be learning new stuff led me to order this xArm.This review will be just some notes from my build that may help others.-Items are packaged well-out of the entire kit, only found 1 bad item (so far anyway), one of the acorn nuts for the suction cups wasn't threaded, minor issue, found another nut in my junk box.-when you start you build, take the bag of screws and sort them all by size into piles-I had the lewansoul website pulled up on my monitor with the large photo of xArm during my build for reference-watch the youtube build video in it's entirety before starting your build, just to get an idea of what you'll be doing, then build as you watch and pause the next round. The video is VERY good.-watch the wiring video before you start also!! and note where the short and long cables go. I would recommend plugging the proper cables into the servos as your are building, if you wait till it's all assembled it can be tough to get the connectors in-all the arm servos basically end up installed the same direction, the output shaft will be on the same, and the cable connectors will on be on the other side-when you get to the round aluminum cylinders and adding the brackets, the larger cylinder goes closer to the base of the unit, you can kinda see this when looking at the large web photos-as someone mentioned the servos are numbers 1 through 6 from the gripper towards the base-the servos come out of the box all centered, so don't turn the shafts at all, until they are mounted square to the brackets-there was no directions on how or where to install the control board, but's is pretty self explanatory by looking at the photos and parts you have left at that point, just use the screws that are left, and the plastic standoffs-I was unable to connect to the xArm with my bluetooth phone at first, I tried a different tablet and it worked ok, so I uninstalled the app, and reinstalled on my phone, then it worked fine. This may have something to do with permissions, as I denied permission to 'phone location' at first, and allowed it the second install. Hey Lewansoul, why do you need permission to my location with this app???-Check your servo wiring when complete and make sure the routing doesn't bind up, or get pinched at the servo travel limits, use the included plastic clips to help as/where needed.-I cut some black foam weather stripping and installed it on my gripper to help it hold small plastic partsYou don't need anything else to operate this arm, everything needed for basic operation is included in the box. You can manually move the arm, and program in an 'action' with just the 2 buttons on the control board. If you use the PC software to do the same thing, then you can go back and tweak your 'action' to make it more accurate.I'm looking forward to digging into the add on kit, and get an arduino hooked up to start working on my own code.Yes you can buy an arm kit for cheaper, but the fact that everything is included here in one box to get going, it has the serial servos with feedback, and I love the blue anodizing. I haven't found anything to deduct from it's 5 star status.For now, great job Lewansoul... I'll try to remember to update my review after I have more time with this, and dig into the add on kit.

Contrary to what the manufacturer claims, this is a 5 axis arm. The fact that it has 6 servos does not make it a 6 axis robot. The 6th servo motor on this arm controls the gripper, commonly known as the end effector in the robotics world. A true 6 axis robot has an additional axis of rotation between axis 3 and 4. This is similar to the forearm of a human arm being able to rotate so the palm of your hand is able to face up or down. Search for 6 axis robot videos and you'll see what I mean.A minor point, but the naming of the axes on a multi axis device always begins at the base of the robot. Axis 1 is the base of the robot and the joint at the end of the arm is axis 5. This is true regardless of whether you're talking about a 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 axis device. How do I know this? I wrote software for SCARA and 6 axis industrial robots for 18 years before I retired.That said, this is a decent toy. You can learn the basics of robotics using it. The manufacturer claims their control software runs on iOS and macOS. Be aware that you must have a M1 or greater Mac to load the software. It will not install on an Intel Mac. This is not mentioned anywhere in Hiwonder documentation. You will only find out once you go the the app store and try to install the app.Overall documentation is poor for this device. The servo motors have an input side and an output side. Their description of setting up the arm call both ends servos, when the input side is actually an encoder. An encoder supplies feedback to the controller telling the position of the motor.Don't expect smooth movements of the arm. Depending on how much the arm is extended (their joints 2 and 3). The further you try to reach for and object, the more jerky movements become. The motors are too heavy and contribute to instability. It would be better to use a pneumatic actuator for the gripper instead of a heavy motor.I bought this for my grandson who is 5 years old. After putting it together and operating it I came to the conclusion that it wasn't suitable for a child that age. He would surely damage it in no time. Be aware of this before you purchase it.Regards,Redwingz