A 2-DOF arm you can train in the simulator first
Start with inverse kinematics in RobotForge's simulator. Then buy the servos. Fail cheap.
Every beginner robot-arm tutorial starts with "buy servos." Ours starts with "open the simulator."
Why sim-first
Servos you bought online die if you command them to 270° when they max at 180°. The simulator doesn't mind. Tune your IK math until the end-effector lands where you want, then buy the hardware.
What you'll build
- 2-DOF revolute arm (shoulder + elbow, yaw-fixed)
- Inverse kinematics solver in 40 lines of JS or Python
- A small pick-and-place task: move end-effector to 3 waypoints