I had trouble with the chain too. I ended up upgrading to a timing belt and pulley.

As for encoder I didn't use any on the AR2, however I'm building a new robot that uses magnetic encoders and haven't selected the ones I'm using. This is my version of the AR2 that I made. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcFbzyTCwVU&feature=emb_logo

Do you know of a good place to source the 04B chain or an alternative? I couldn't find it on aliexpress or ebay cheaply, though there were other chains. Plenty on UK ebay but loads of delivery charges and the currency issues there too.

All the bearings I got off ebay and aliexpress too, I'll start searching for the electrical stuff tonight, takes a while.

Do you have any videos of your robot? Cool to see another person in Aus making one.

edit - Got a source or alternative for these at all? "AMT102-V encoder", cheapest I can find is $40 each and you need 6 for the AR3

Thanks a lot Paul, it did help with the screws. I had a different number to buy to the spreadsheet though, I'm guessing since I went by the AR3 part manual.

Check this out or a starting point:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tWEWUX04Rhvx12vcBfraHrtZJI8M1RrX6EkvqB5PDs8/edit?usp=sharing

Hi Joseph,

For sure. I buy a lot of my parts & materials from AliExpress. It takes a while to get to Aus but you get good prices and a great selection. Where in Australia are you?

Hi Paul I notice you're in Australia too. Could you recommend any suppliers for all the bits required in our hemisphere? I have just ordered the stepper pack from stepperonline.

Right now Im working on fixing an issue with kinematics, I overlooked the programming of the DH parameter for A3, The AR2 robot doesnt have an elbow offset so it doesnt affect the AR2 but its affecting other people building custom robots so Im fixing that now. I had 2 people send me a message that they were having issues with Windows 10, I had 7 on everything previous...just loaded windows 10 on one of my computers and Ive spent some time testing Python 3.7 and the AR2 program but Ive yet to find any issues. It seems to run just fine. Theres a number of other things Id like to add such as a built in vision program using open CV, building an error log. Im also looking into better ways to send jogging commands, Id like to find a way to press and hold / stop on release rather than its current 'step' mode where a single button press jogs the robot a predetermined distance with a serial command.

Thanks for the reply. What kind of software updates were you thinking for the AR2?

I am still working on a larger closed loop robot (AR3) and it is an experimental design so I cant guarantee it will bear fruit. As far as timeline its probably a year out given my available time to work on it, I still spend a lot of time on the AR2. The AR2 is still the main platform and I'm still looking at some software updates for the AR2 and continuous improvement on it.