Are you going to wear some sci-fie costume this year in the Halloween like a future robot. Then you would be needing a good prop which matches with your costume. A lot of sci-fie costumes as well as props are available in the market. If you are going to wear a costume like a future robot this Halloween,then you would be needing a prop that has some relation with robot. You can buy a prop from the market but they are not as good as you expect. This instructable is for those people only. Here I will tell you how to build awesome prop which matches with your costume. This prop is like a robot hand. It helps you to grab objects like a robot.

This Robotic claw can be used in multiple ways. If you need a prop for the Halloween or need something which adds a charm to your costume then this instructable is for you. This claw can also be used as a wearable tech which would help us in our daily for holding objects. This robotic claw consists of a wearable glove like structure and a transmitter box. Their is a gripper attached to the glove which would help you to hold the object firmly. The motion of the gripper can be controlled from the transmitter box which would be there in your second hand. The two push buttons will help you to change the state of gripper i.e closed or open.

Both transmitter and receiver consists of a RF module. Every command from the transmitter to the receiver is carried through this module. No micro-controller is used in this project. Simple ICs are used which can be easily found on the net. You can also make your own version with the micro-controller. It can be made very easily. The glove of the claw is made from mechanix strip. 3D printer can also be used to make the glove. There are two variety of gripper. One is made up of aluminium and the other one with acrylic board. If have used the second one because it is light weight and cheap. Aluminium one is also good. It can grab object as well as rotate them and is more durable and hard. HT12E and HT12D ic are used here. One motor driving IC is also used to control gripper motor.

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Step 1: Gather Parts

Here are the parts required by you to make this cool robotic claw. You can buy claw for the project from ebay or amazon. Rest of the parts you can easily get on adafruit. Be ready to order your parts. Here is the list:

PARTS:

Robotic claw
Mechanix kit(any thing by which you can make a frame. 3D printer will also work)
RF module
IC-HT12D
IC-HT12E
IC-L293D
51K ohms resistance
1M ohms resistance
3 X 1K ohms resistance
2 X 5v voltage regulator
2 X 0.1uf ceramic disc capacitors
2 X 470uf 16V capacitor
3 LEDs (1 led must be of different color from other two)
16 pin IC base
2 X 18 pin IC base
2 X push buttons
2 X Box
2 X 9v battery with battery clip
Female header
Perfboard
Wire
Switches
DC motor

TOOLS:

Soldering iron
Pliers
scissors
Screwdriver
Drill (or anything by which you can make holes in your box)
Hot glue gun

MISCELLANEOUS:

A marker
Ruler
Paper tape

Step 2: Assemble the Robotic Claw

My robotic claw was in form of kit. I bought it from my local electronic shop for about $10. There was a guide along it by which I was able to assemble kit. I searched for the claw on the internet and found some pre-assembled claws as well as user-assembled claws. My claw is made up of acrylic board but the claw which I found on the internet were made up of aluminium. I depends upon you which type of claw suits you. If you are able to find claws made up of acrylic then use them as they are more lighter than aluminium claws. You can even make your own claw using 3D printer. So coming back to the topic, If you get a pre- assembled claw then you can skip this step but if your claw is in form of kit, then you need to assemble it. Surely there will be a step by step guide with it either in form of paper or a CD. Assembling your kit can take for about one hour so you need to be patient while assembling it. If you have a acrylic claw then parts of the claw would be covered with thin safety coating. Remove them for best results. Assemble your claw and proceed to the next step.

Step 3: Making a Glove With Mechanix

We would be making a glove like structure for our robotic claw because the claw can't be attached to your hand like this only. Now the question comes how to make a glove for your claw. The answer to that is very simple. I am using a 'mechanix' kit for making the glove. This kit consist of strips and rods made up of aluminium. We can make a lot of things using this kit. Two strips can be attached together with nut and bolt. There are holes in each and every strip in which nuts can be placed. I think that in America it is called 'mechano' but in my country we call it 'mechanix'. If you do not own a mechanix kit then you can used a 3D for making the glove. Using a 3D printer would be a better option because you can design your glove according to you. You can also add more details to it. You can also make your glove with acrylic sheets or with wood if you are good in wood crafting. I attached two small mechanics strips so that I can hold that glove with those strips and while wearing it doesn't come out of my hand. Please make a strong structure so that it doesn't break due to any shock.

Step 4: Prototype the Circuit

It is good to prototype the circuit before making it on the perfboard. I assure you that the circuit is working but I don't know about your parts. Prototyping helps you to check your parts. While making the circuit on the breadboard, you get familiar with it and this minimizes error while making the circuit on the PCB. I neither used motors nor motor driving IC in prototyping the receiver circuit. I instead of that I used LED. But it is advised that you use the IC in prototyping.

Step 5: Soldering the Circuits

If your circuits are working perfectly then you can solder them on PCB. Take a PCB and solder then circuit on them one by one. Use a IC base for soldering the IC. In case of any fault you can easily plug out the IC. For RF module, use female header so that if you need them for any other project, you can easily plug them out. The LED attached to the pin 18 of HT12D must be of different color from the LED of power supply. The size of circuit should not be more that the size of your box. One important thing, don't attach the push buttons to the transmitter circuit just now. We would be doing that afterwards. Don't forget to connect a switch to both the circuits.

Step 6: Making a Box

Now its time to make some holes. We would be making a box for our receiver as well as transmitter circuit. Take a box from the two and start making the holes with the help of a marker and ruler. You can use a drill machine to make holes but a dremel would be better option. You have to make holes for the following things:

RECEIVER:

A hole through which wire will go to the robotic arm
A hole for antenna wire
Switch

TRANSMITTER:

Switch
4 holes for push buttons
A hole for antenna

You can cover the box with a white paper or color the box with you favorite color. You can stick stickers on your box. I advise you to do this thing only in transmitter box as the receiver box would be hidden under your hand and only transmitter box will be shown to others. Now from the outside of the transmitter box, put in the push buttons and connect the from inside to the transmitter circuit.

Step 7: Hot Glue Everything

Heat up your glue gun because its time to stick your components. Don't skip this step as it is one of the most important steps of this project. You can use double sided tape to stick you circuit to the box but the better option would be to use a hot glue gun. Stick your circuit board to their specific box and don't forget to apply some glue at the point from where wires are going inside the box. In the transmitter box, apply hot glue to the push buttons from inside as well as outside.

Step 8: Attach Robotic Claw to the Glove

Now its time to attach the robotic claw and the mechanix glove that we made in the previous steps to each other. In my claw their were some holes. Using those holes I attached my claw to my glove. If there are no holes in your claw then you can make then according to you using a drill machine or dremel. I made a clamp for my claw through which I attached my robotic claw to the glove. If you are using a 3D printer then their is no use of making a clamp because then you can design your glove according to you. Tighten your claw to your glove nicely so that when you hold any object through the claw it does not start shaking.

Step 9: Attaching Claw to the Receiver and Adding Power Supply

After your receiver is ready, we would be connecting the claw to the receiver circuit. This step is very easy. Take a pair of wire of sufficient length. If you want you can measure the length between the claw and the receiver circuit and cut wire according to it. Solder one end of the wire on the leads of the claw and other end will be connected to the motor driving IC as shown in the circuit diagram. I attached my wire to the mechanics strip using a tape so that the wire doesn't get destroyed due to any cut or pull. If you are making the glove using mechanix then make sure that there are not cuts in the wire because mechanix strips are made up of aluminium and due to cut short circuit may occur.

Now attach a 9V battery to both receiver and transmitter circuit. For receiver circuit, I have used a 9V rechargeable battery because it is driving the receiver circuit as well as the claw so more power will be consumed from that battery and it will get exhausted in less time. If we use a 9V rechargeable battery we can charge it again and again and use them. You can also attach a switch. Hot glue the switch with your box.

Step 10: Making the Antenna

If we don't attach antenna to both the circuit then the working range would be extremely less. Make a beautiful antenna for the transmitter circuit and an ordinary wire for the receiver circuit. Connect a wire to the receiver circuit and take the wire through the edges of the mechanix strip. For the transmitter circuit I made a beautiful curvy wire. This idea was not mine. I took it from an instructable made by my friend Saiyam. The transmitter wire should be decent .

Step 11: Checking

Its time to check your work. Wear your claw and power on the receiver circuit first. Only one led should glow. Hold the transmitter in your hand and switch it on. A soon as the transmitter circuit is on, the second led should glow. If it does not glow check your receiver circuit. Press any one of the two buttons and there should be some activity in the claw. Check your motor driving IC's connection with the other IC if there is no activity in the claw. If everything works fine, then your claw is ready to be used.

Step 12: Done!!

Now wear your costume and get ready for the Halloween. Your robotic claw is there to add a charm to your costume. This will surely make you look different from the crowd.

This is the end of this instructable. Hope you like it. If there is any query, you can comment below or can e-mail me or can ask me on my facebook page Frozen solenoid. For more cool projects,follow me. THANK YOU

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