EduSCARA: An open source RRPR educational SCARA platform

This paper presents EduSCARA, an affordable and industrially relevant Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm (SCARA) development platform. Designed to lower the barrier to industrial robotics, EduSCARA provides a complete, hands-on environment that closely replicates the architecture and challenges of professional systems without the prohibitive cost or complexity. The manipulator features a 3D-printed RRPR design actuated by hobby-grade servomotors, with PID-tunable closed-loop control on the planar axes. Its modular and transparent design supports both hardware and firmware customisation, while the Python API gives learners a versatile platform for experimentation. Validation of the system shows <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mo>±</mml:mo></mml:math> 3.5 mm repeatability at high speeds and a 100 g payload capacity, supporting small-scale educational and practical tasks. In contrast to traditional industrial robots, often costing tens of thousands of pounds, EduSCARA empowers learners to experiment, debug, and innovate at a fraction of the cost of many other educational robotics platforms. More than just a small robot, EduSCARA serves as a gateway to industrial robotics, making high-impact, professional-grade learning truly accessible.