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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!seismo!hao!hplabs!sri-unix!vortex!lauren@rand-unix
From: lauren%rand-unix@vortex.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.micro
Subject: Radio Shack "robot arm"???
Message-ID: <13741@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 17-Nov-83 06:18:22 EST
Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.13741
Posted: Thu Nov 17 06:18:22 1983
Date-Received: Sun, 20-Nov-83 00:24:02 EST
Lines: 21

It isn't clear to me that this is *really* the right list for this
message, but it's as close as I think I can get!  It appears that
Radio Shack is now selling a "robot arm" at a very low price (about
$40, I think).  From the advertising I've seen, it appears to be
designed for manual control (possibly through a pair of joysticks
and/or other controls).  The unit appears to be mostly plastic, but
seems to have a number of degrees of freedom, including a typical
motorized "gripper".  It isn't clear how much lifting power the unit
can provide, since the ads are brief and only show the movement of
plastic chess pieces and other very light objects.

Still, for simple experimentation, I would suspect that the arm could
be easily interfaced to micros (maybe it should be mounted on a
motorized toy platform -- there are several of those...) and
would probably be rather amusing.  It certainly is far less expensive
than any of the "real" arm units on the market.

If anybody out there finds out more about this gadget, please
let me know.  Thanks much.

--Lauren--