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Iris 1.2 Assembly Instructions

STEP 1: Video

Step 1: Attach circular pivot post adapter to base. Make sure the screws line up with the holes drilled in the base and the dimples on the plastic piece face up. Take care not to overtighten the screws.


STEPS 2-4: Video

Step 2: Put long hex bolt through the hole in the base from the bottom. It should stick out of the top of the circular piece you just attached.

Step 3: Attach the cylindrical pivot post piece to the circular pivot post adapter. The protrusions from the cylinder should fit in the holes on the circular piece.
Step 4: Attach the top part of the pivot post to the rest of the assembly. Tighten everything down with a 3/16” or 5mm hex wrench.

STEPS 5-6: Video

Step 5: Place the 6-hole link on the top of the pivot post, open end up, as shown in the above photo.

Step 6: Screw the short bolt into the pivot post. Add a washer between the bolt and the metal link so it holds snugly.

STEPS 7-8: Video

Step 7: Insert the High-Torque servo, labeled HS-645MG into the back hole of the 6-hole support. The white gear drive should fit inside the hole of the plastic base piece.

Once this is inserted, swing the assembly through its full range of motion to make sure it rotates about the same distance from side to side. If it doesn’t, take the servo out, reposition the arm and try again. You should hear the motor spin when you rotate the arm back and forth.

Step 8: Wrap the plastic cradle around the servo, and feed the attached metal bracket underneath the metal link. Tighten the screws.

STEPS 9-10: Video

Step 9: The next piece you will attach is a standard HS-422 servo. You will need the metal cradle and the two plastic wing nuts to complete this step.
Place the servo underneath the 6-hole bracket with the white drive gear pointed to the left as seen from the front. Feed the cradle around the servo and up through the holes of the link. Attach the wing nuts and tighten everything down.

Step 10: Place the 2-hole metal link over the servo you just attached.

STEPS 11-12: Video

Steps 11-12: Attach the 5-hole link to the servo you just attached. Put a nylon washer between the two metal links. Tighten the screw. Again, rotate the servo to make sure it has an even motion up and down.


STEPS 13-15: Video

Step 13: Add another HS-422 Servo to the other end of the 5-hole link.

Steps 14-15: Following the same steps as before, attach the 4-hole arm link, nylon washer, servo connector and servo to the previous assembly.

STEPS 16-19: Video

Steps 16-17: Put long hex bolt through the hole in the base from the bottom. It should stick out of the top of the circular piece you just attached.

Step 18: Attach the cylindrical pivot post piece to the circular pivot post adapter. The protrusions from the cylinder should fit in the holes on the circular piece.
Step 19: Attach the gripper hand to the link using a small washer and a nut. Your assembly should look like the one above.

STEPS 20-21: Video

Step 20: Now attach the gripper assembly to the rest of the arm as shown, using the nylon washer and servo connector.

Step 21: Attach the last servo motor into the gripper hand as shown. Make sure the arm opens and closes correctly.
Note: This servo sits in the gripper hand without a screw.

The remaining instructions BELOW have only images and text without videos.


 

Step 22
Tighten down the screws to fasten the parallax board to the wooden base. Take care not to overtighten the screws.


Step 23
Now we need to hook up the Parallax servo controller to the arm. Start by removing 1/4” of insulation from the clipped ends of the power supply. Feed these through the hole on the front of the board. Insert the stripped wires into the holes in the green power inputs on the circuit board. You may need to give the wires a twist to get them in the holes.
NOTE 1: Make sure no stray strands of wire are left out of the holes. These could touch the other side and cause a short in the wires.
NOTE 2: When you power up the arm for the first time, if the servos do not move when you tell them to, try switching the positions of these wires. The power supply you get may have red tape on the “+” side of the wire. Make sure this matches the “+” side of the circuit board.


Step 24
Now we’ll start attaching the servos to the board. You’ll need the wire extenders for the next steps. To start, remove the cable extenders from their packages and attach one to each of the servo motors except the high-torque servo motor (the first one you attached to the plastic base.) The darkest servo wire should be connected to the darkest cable extender wire on all of these extenders when you’re done.


Step 25 - 26
To start, attach the high-torque servo motor’s wire, the only one without a cable extender, to plug P15 on the parallax board. The darkest wire should face out.

Continue down the line, connecting the servo between the 6-hole and 5 hole support to P14, the servo between the 5-hole and 4-hole supports to P13, The servo between the 4-hole and 3-hole connector to P12, and the servo attached to the gripper hand to P11.


Step 27
Attach the USB cable to the board and your computer, plug in the power and turn on the switch. If the red light comes on, you’ve done it!