I just bought one of the robosapiens at Frys yesterday. I haven't taken it apart yet, but I did browse the article in Servo. I came home expecting to find
3 or a dozen websites about people adding sensors, etc., but no.Did it just come out this week or something? I have read that it was built for hacking, connections to the main board are all connectorized and labeled. I wonder if Mark will make the source code available?
There was one website with "this is the dissection...", but it was yanked. I think it was because (possibly) that it was the same fellow that wrote the Servo articles, and Servo reserved "first publish" rights (which is fair).
Other than that, I know Mark is working on a Wowwee page with additional programs and the like, but no - I seriously doubt any sort of source code would be released. Stay tuned.
On another topic, I've been in some discussions with some other people regarding hacking these for Japanese biped sumo. Not RoboOne style (being tres $$$), but hacked RS with edge sensors and the like. I measure the "footprint" as being 23cm wide, which makes it a bit wide to conform to traditional 20cm Japanese robot sumo, but this is such a cool platform... I have visions of lopping off the arms (to fit in the 23cm) and replacing them with laser pointers like a MechWarrior Maurader. Perhaps time to consider proposing using a RS as a baseline for biped robot sumo (arms included)?
Thoughts?
Regards, Dave
Dave, it was someone in New Zealand that stole (and reposted) Nick Blye's content from the SERVO article without permission. They then posted inaccurate allegations of legal action to make them out as "the persecuted" after being told to remove the content.
Mark Tilden gave some great interviews to Nick (thanks, Mark!) and there is a rumor that more hacking info is on the way.
I personally found the RS to be quite interesting but it doesn't seem to walk fast enough to catch the cat. Probably needs a rail gun or some other suitable enhancement.
Dan
I think a rail-gun would take too much power.
Perhaps a rubber-band gun?
--
Ah. It wasn't clear on the NZ site who the author/site owner was. That makes sense. The servo articles are very cool and well worth picking up a copy. BTW, I've found copies of Servo on local "Chapters" shelves in Calgary, which I've "tidied up" so they have suspiciously good space on the tech shelf. Keep up the good content.
Yup, he's got some help working on more stuff for their website.
I'm in discussions on a few mailing lists about "biped robot sumo" that would be a step lower than RoboONE, but could allow hacked Robosapiens. We'll have to see how that progresses. I think we're first going to have to hack and record the IR transmitter codes, store them, and directly link a uC I/O pin to the Rx in the 'sapien. I think that'll be easier than trying to re-engineer Mark's walking algorithms...
Hmmm.. Hack the arm motors for more power and install a small rubber-band gun DOES sound like a cool hack.
On another note, I see you're involved with the Robonexxus event this October. I've tried to check out what the event costs are gonna be, but to no avail. Any insights? How's it shaping up?
Regards, Dave
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.