Things We Love: Modular Desktop Robot
Decades of science fiction movies and TV-shows have promised us useful robotic buddies to help us with our daily tasks. While at present that reality is partially fulfilled with toys like Nintendo’s ROB, actual robotic arms have been typically confined to a manufacturing functionality on production lines or in other environments like the medical sector.
Hexbot Robotics is looking to change that with the creation of Hexbot 1.0 – an affordable, desktop robotic arm that draws, writes, 3D prints and laser engraves.
Built for makers of all kinds, Hexbot turns your desktop into a workshop and helps to realise your ideas. Owners of the Hexbot can laser engrave wood, leather and card; turn pixels into pen and ink; 3D print designs into products; and even use the arm to move chess pieces and become an opponent for you to play with.
You know we’ve got a soft spot for all things modular and Hexbot 1 is no different. The modular design allows it to easily interchange between functions while the intuitive and interactive software allows you to bring ideas to life in just a few clicks.
The patented decelerator design reduces the gap between the gears, allowing for 0.1mm precision and 0.05mm repeatability rate. Anyone that’s worked with a 3D printer or engraver before, knows that’s extremely accurate and detailed for an at-home model. The arm can also hold up to 500g in weight and moves (virtually) silently meaning you can let it run overnight without it disturbing your sleep.
The company is also working on a voice assist capacity so Google Assistant could be used in future to control the arm.
It seems the only limitation is our imaginations.
