Python script to control the Maplin USB robotic arm on your Raspberry PI.
- Raspian
- Python 2.7
- pip
- pyusb Library
- Create a new udev rules file at /etc/udev/rules.d/85-robotarm.rules with the contents
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1267", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0000", ACTION=="add", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0666"
- Add your user to the plugdev group using the command:
sudo usermod -aG plugdev yourusername
- Reboot the Pi with the command:
sudo shutdown -r now
- Make the script executable with the command:
chmod 755 maplinrobot.py
- Install pip with the command:
sudo apt-get install python-pip -y
- Install pyusb Library via pip with the command:
sudo pip install pyusb
- Open the script and edit it to suit your needs (See Example Usage section for more info.)
- type ./maplinrobot.py to run. If you have problems running as a normal user, try running the script as root.
Commands are stored in a dictionary. Valid commands to send to the arm are:
- 'base-anti-clockwise' - Rotates the base ant-clockwise
- 'base-clockwise' - Rotates the base clockwise
- 'shoulder-up' - Raises the shoulder
- 'shoulder-down' - Lowers the shoulder
- 'elbow-up' - Raises the elbow
- 'elbow-down' - Lowers the elbow
- 'wrist-up' - Raises the wrist
- 'wrist-down' - Lowers the wrist
- 'grip-open' - Opens the grip
- 'grip-close' - Closes the grip
- 'light-on' - Turns on the LED in the grip
- 'light-off' - Turns the LED in the grip off
- 'stop' - Stops all movement of the arm
-At the bottom of the script uncomment the lines below:
s = MaplinRobot() s.MoveArm(t=1.0, cmd='base-clockwise')
This will rotate the base of the arm clockwise for 1 second. Duration of each command is set by passing a float value to the t parameter.
The argument passed to the cmd parameter can be any command in the Moving the Arm section above.