User-Friendly Control Mechanisms in Robotics Arm via Mobile Applications

Abstract

Robotic arms have become an essential part of the manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries. They are in different forms and used to handle a variety of tasks. This research covers the development of an articulated 3R robotic arm controlled via an internet of things-enabled mobile application. The system features a 6-degree-of-freedom robotic arm constructed using MG996R servo motors, controlled by an ESP32 WROOM-32 microcontroller that enables wireless communication through Wi-Fi connectivity. A payload capacity of 100g, reach of 37.7 cm, and repeatability of ±2 mm was achieved, making it suitable for light industrial tasks such as pick-and-place operations, laboratory automation, and educational applications. The control interface consists of an intuitive mobile application that communicates with the ESP32, providing real-time control with an average latency of 45ms and enabling users to operate the arm without specialized robotics programming knowledge. When testing under no load conditions, the five joints responded within a range of 75ms to 150ms for 30° movement of the servo motor, 120ms to 200ms for 60° and 300ms to 600ms for a 90° movement. Tests were also carried out with a 100g load and a response range of range of 120ms to 270ms for 30° movement of the servo motor, 260ms to 360ms for 60° and 600ms to 1200ms for a 90° change. The mobile application was also tested to evaluate its performance. This showed a user interface response time of <50 ms for slider interactions and real-time feedback accuracy of ±1° position display accuracy.