ControlPCB is the board used in the Thor project to control the stepper motors that drive the robotic arm.

This board is based on RAMPS 1.4 and acts as a shield for an Arduino Mega, supporting up to 8 stepper drivers (A4988 and compatible). It also supports up to 8 endstops (1 per motor) and a pwm output to control the robot tool. It also has 5V and 12V auxiliary rails.

You can check the BOM here and you can find the source files of this board in its GitHub repository.

Thor is an Open Source and printable robot arm with six degrees of freedom. Its configuration (yaw-roll-roll-yaw-roll-yaw) is the same used by most of the manipulator robots on the market. In its extended position, Thor is about 625mm high and can lift loads up to 750 grams.

The main purpose of this project was to design a robot that could be used in universities and schools to teach robotics.With this in mind, the design had to be affordable and accessible. Releasing the source files and doing so under an open source licence was the best option: anyone could study any element of the robot in depth and, moreover, modify or adapt it to their needs.

The cost of the whole materials is under 350€. Being so affordable, I think almost every school/university/maker could make good use of at least one!

In terms of licenses, I wanted this project to be Open Source because I want anyone to have the opportunity to study, modify and improve it.

Thor has been developed using only open source tools: FreeCAD for the 3D modeling, KiCAD for the PCB design and GBRL as firmware for the control electronics. In this way, access to knowledge can be guaranteed to anyone, anywhere, without any economic cost. There is not a single reason for not hacking Thor!

If you want to know more about this project, visit the Thor Website, where you will find documentation, manuals and a forum to solve all your doubts.

Hope you like it!

ángel LM