6-DOF Robotic Arm with 3D-Printed Cycloidal Gearboxes
A low-cost 6-axis robotic arm with 3D-printed cycloidal gearboxes at the high-load joints, running C++/ROS motion code on an ESP32.
Personal project — design, fabrication, and software
An ongoing personal project to build a capable 6-axis arm without the cost of commercial servo gearboxes. I do everything on it myself: mechanism design, fabrication, electronics, and software.
Gearboxes
The high-load joints need more torque than hobby motors provide directly, and machined gearboxes with usable ratings cost more than the rest of the arm combined. I designed cycloidal gearboxes that print reliably on a desktop printer instead. Cycloidal drives tolerate shock loads well and don’t depend on fine tooth geometry, which makes them a good match for FDM printing.
Software
Motion code is written in C++ with ROS, running on an ESP32. The arm currently supports edge tracking and drawing on a plane.
CAD
The viewer below shows the disc geometry at the center of the gearbox design. The assembly models live in Onshape, and I’ll add embed links once the document is cleaned up for public sharing.
CAD
Cycloidal gearbox disc