A 6DOF Robotic Claw Game

Claw games are a staple of arcades, pizza parlors, and anywhere where kids and/or adults want to try their luck to win (typically) stuffed prizes. Normally this involves a gantry system and simple control setup, but as Arielle Mella shows, it’s also possible to create a claw game using a six degrees of freedom (6DOF) robot arm.

One might argue a SCARA could do the job, but in this case the setup was meant as a technology demonstrator for the Viam smart machine software platform. Here a Viam server is set up on a Raspberry Pi single-board computer, which is tasked with overall control for the machine. Human-machine interface (HMI) is provided by a tablet that enables users move the claw around in an attempt to grab promotional foam balls.

The robot is outfitted with an arcade-style claw, closed via a Raspberry Pi GPIO pin, relay, and 24VDC power supply. As seen in the video below, like most claw games, the gripping action appears less-than-perfectly effective. So it is a good approximation of typical claw games, if not something you’d want to put in your factory for increased OOE (overall operations effectiveness) stats.

The physical build features a wood and plexiglass enclosure, allowing participants to see and interact with the prizes inside while avoiding contact with the robot.

Overall, the game was a great success when put on display, with people enjoying this new take on an arcade classic. Of course, there are any number of ways it could be enhanced or changed around. Perhaps this will inspire more retro-mechanical arcade builds in the future using modern hardware!