One thing that is amazing about industrial robots is how rigid they are when at standstill. Breaking systems start to be a challenge too at high speeds and loads.
And once you manage to get the hardware working, getting a kinematic solver to really work is a massive challenge. Tons of edge cases, real-time feedback to handle and the need to balance usability with reliability. That's where robot companies charge a lot, and rightfully so.
Whenever you can avoid building a robot arm and replace it with simpler kinematics, you should. Hats off to you if you build that thing!
Why aren't all these applications that have only recently been examined for automation absolutely flush with cheaper lower axis count robotics, like SCARA or parallel manipulators?
And once you manage to get the hardware working, getting a kinematic solver to really work is a massive challenge. Tons of edge cases, real-time feedback to handle and the need to balance usability with reliability. That's where robot companies charge a lot, and rightfully so.
Whenever you can avoid building a robot arm and replace it with simpler kinematics, you should. Hats off to you if you build that thing!