3 Degree of Freedom Joint

thingiverse

I'm testing a rough prototype to bring an idea for a three-degree-of-freedom joint to life. It's still very much a work-in-progress, so for now it doesn't do anything functional. Eventually, the arm needs to be designed with cables attached to actuate it. One of the key benefits of this joint is that the string can make a larger radius turn from horizontal to vertical. Once made out of better materials, it should have pretty low friction. The range of motion in this design is quite large. If the strings are angled down more, it could probably have a range of motion larger than 180 degrees in every direction. Check out this video for a closer look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PypkjQLSAy0