I was wondering if anyone could tell me what mechanism/motor is involved with the individual arms in the links I posted above? I'm interested in building just the arm movement with Arduino, but I'm not sure how/what is involved on the mechanical side. Thank you!
To me, they seem to be simple servo motors with 3D printed legs that are going up to the tabletop. I am not exactly sure what the joints are on the legs though...
Google "Stewart platform"
They had better be durable servos! There appears to be a fourth one in the base. What is it doing?
Most Stewart platforms I see have no “retracting” ability. The movement in the joints of the arm allow the platform to be completely flush with the base.
I’m really interested in how/what is being used to move both the joints and bottom legs.
czu001:
I’m really interested in how/what is being used to move both the joints and bottom legs.
Not sure what you mean. It clearly is a common "servo" as used in RC vehicles. Given the leverage, it will need to be a quite heavy-duty one.
I am not sure whether the joints can be simple spindle bearings or (some) need to be ball joints.
I am also interested in how the device is seemingly bending the middle joint... maybe it's spring-loaded and the tension of the other joints when a servo bends allows it to stretch or compress the other springs? I think the small joints just under the tabletop are just ball magnets.
The linked website says high performance servos
RPi with vision
Describes the joints and has photos of them.
Clever work for a 19 year old maker
Where’s the description of the joints? I can’t find it. I see a PDF in GitHub but it’s in French. Is that what you’re referring to?
Go to the github link in the first post.
The go the link on that website
Scroll to the [middle]
The. Video in that site shows the ball and the rest of the kit.
At least enough to get an idea of what is used.
mechanical_maker:
I am also interested in how the device is seemingly bending the middle joint... maybe it's spring-loaded and the tension of the other joints when a servo bends allows it to stretch or compress the other springs? I think the small joints just under the tabletop are just ball magnets.
Not spring loaded, its just a hinge - the mechanism is perfectly constrained, 3 degrees of freedom and
3 actuators.
I am trying to a sort of Stewart Platform with the following requirements:
I've been reading about motors, and I think what I need are the following:
I am trying to build a small solar panel tracker which consumes very little power when in a static position, but also be durable to strong winds. I'm very new to motors. Does that sound feasible? If so, where would be some good places to start looking for those kind of parts? Should I probably start with legos to get the mechanical side down first? Thanks.
For a solar tracker, a stepper motor with worm gear drive is pretty ideal, as no power is required to hold position and no position feedback is required (except possibly a "home" switch).
You need only two degrees of freedom, azimuth and altitude.
High winds can tear apart most things made by humans, so some planning might be in order.
For solar tracking, it is vastly simpler to use an Az-El mount. Why make it more complex? 
This would make a pretty sturdy drive unit.
https://www.mpja.com/Leadscrew-with-Gearhead-12-24VDC-Motor/productinfo/32681+MD/
Video too!
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