We’ve waited a long time for Robotis to globally release a research-grade humanoid to the academic market, and they have delivered. The wait is over and the Darwin-OP (Open Platform) is here!
The Darwin-OP is a joint initiative project funded by the National Science Foundation and a collaborative effort between Robotis, Virginia Tech’s RoMeLa, Purdue, and Penn Engineering.
So what makes it so special? First off, it’s entirely Open Source. All of the software, the hardware, and of course the OS it runs (Ubuntu 10). The code is well organized and well written, making it easy for programmers to jump right in with custom development. It uses the new MX-28 servo, which is well, awesome. The MX-28 is Robotis’ first 360 degree rotation, magnetic encoder based actuator. Onboard the Darwin-OP boasts a 1.6ghz Intel Atom based FitPC computer. That means your Darwin-OP not only runs a full-fledged operating system, but it has USB and and an HDMI Port. That’s right, your robot can have an HDMI port. I love the world we live in today.
We have our own personal Darwin-OP at the office here to develop on as well as to help us learn this amazing robotic platform inside and out. Lots of videos are incoming! In the mean time, check out Darwin-OP playing with some kids at the KC Maker Faire last month!
This is the Bioloid GP. Watch it run in slow motion. It’s pretty bad-ass. Look, it runs all over the place. “Woah, watch out!” says that bird. Ew it’s got a snake? Oh, it’s chasing a jackal? Oh my gosh! Oh the Bioloid GPs are just crazy! The Bioloid GP’s been referred to by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most fearless animal in all the animal kingdom. It really doesn’t give a shit. If it’s hungry, it’s hungr-ew what’s that in its mouth! Oh it’s got a cobra? Oh it runs backwards? Now watch this, look, a snake’s up in a tree. Bioloid GP don’t care. Bioloid GP don’t give a shit, it just takes what it wants. Whenever it’s hungry it just- ew! And it eats the snakes. Oh my God watch it dig. Look at that digging. The Bioloid GPs really pretty bad-ass. They have no regard for any other animal whatsoever. Look at him just grunting and- ew! Eating snakes! Ew what’s that, a mouse? Oh that’s nasty. Oh, they’re so nasty! Oo look! It’s chasing things, and eating them.
The Bioloid GP’s have a fairly long body, but a distinctly thick set, broad shoulders, and you know, their, their skin is loose, allowing them to move about freely, and they twist around. Now look, here’s a house full of bees. You think the Bioloid GP cares? It doesn’t give a shit. It goes right in to the house to bees to get some larvae. How disgusting is that? It eats larvae. Ew, that’s so nasty. But look, the Bioloid GP doesn’t care, it’s getting stung like a thousand times. It doesn’t give a shit, it just, it’s hungry. It doesn’t care about being stung by bees. Nothing can stop the Bioloid GP when it’s hungry. Oh what a crazy fuck! Look! Ew, it’s eating larvae, that’s disgusting. There it is running in slow motion again. See, now what’s interesting is that other, other animals like these birds here the just like to wait around until the Bioloid GPs done eating and then it swoops in to pick up the scraps. It says, “You do all the work for us Bioloid GP and we’ll just eat whatever you find, how’s that? What do you say, stupid?” Look at this bird. “Thanks for the treat, stupid!” “Hey, come back here” says the Bioloid GP. Birds don’t care, and you know what, the jackals do it, too. Look at these little dogs. They’re like, “Thanks, Stupid! Thanks for the mouse! See ya later!” The Bioloid GP does all the work while these other animals just pick up the scraps.
At night time, the Bioloid GP goes hunting, cuz it’s hungry. Look! Here comes a fierce battle between a king cobra and a Bioloid GP. I wonder what will happen. Look at this, there’s the Bioloid GP just eating a mouse. And then look. “Get away from me!” says the snake, “Get away from me!” Bioloid GP don’t care. Bioloid GP smacks the shit out of him. The snake comes back and it lashes right at the Bioloid GP. Oh! Little does the Bioloid GP know, FYI, it’s been stung! It’s been bitten by the snake, so while it’s eating the snake- ew, that’s disgusting- meanwhile the poisonous venom is seeping through the Bioloid GPs body, and it passes out. Look at that sleepy fuck. Now the Bioloid GPs just gonna pass out for a few minutes and then it’s gonna get right back up and start eating all over again, cuz it’s a hungry little bastard. Look at this! Like nothing even happened, the Bioloid GP gets right back up and continues eating the cobra! How disgusting. And of course, what does a Bioloid GP have to eat for the next few weeks? Cobra.
The Bioloid GP.
This is the Bioloid GP. Watch it run in slow motion. It’s pretty bad-ass. Look, it runs all over the place. “Woah, watch out!” says that bird. Eww it’s got a snake? Oh, it’s chasing a jackal? Oh my gosh! Oh the Bioloid GPs are just crazy! The Bioloid GP’s been referred to by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most fearless robot in all the robot kingdom. It really doesn’t give a crap. If it’s hungry, it’s hungr-EWW what’s that in its mouth! Oh it’s got a cobra? Oh it runs backwards? Now watch this, look, a snake’s up in a tree. Bioloid GP don’t care. Bioloid GP don’t give a crap, it just takes what it wants. Whenever it’s hungry it just- ew! And it eats the snakes. Oh my God watch it dig. Look at that digging. The Bioloid GP is really pretty bad-ass. They have no regard for any other robot whatsoever. Look at him just grunting and- ew! Eating snakes! Ew what’s that, a mouse? Oh that’s nasty. Oh, they’re so nasty! Oo look! It’s chasing things, and eating them.
The Bioloid GP’s have a fairly long body, but a distinctly thick set, broad shoulders, and you know, their, their wires are loose, allowing them to move about freely, and they twist around. Now look, here’s a house full of bees. You think the Bioloid GP cares? It doesn’t give a crap. It goes right in to the house to bees to get some larvae. How disgusting is that? It eats larvae. Ew, that’s so nasty. But look, the Bioloid GP doesn’t care, it’s getting stung like a thousand times. It doesn’t give a crap, it just, it’s hungry. It doesn’t care about being stung by bees. Nothing can stop the Bioloid GP when it’s hungry. Oh what a crazy robot! Look! Ew, it’s eating larvae, that’s disgusting. There it is running in slow motion again. See, now what’s interesting is that other, other animals like these birds here the just like to wait around until the Bioloid GPs done eating and then it swoops in to pick up the scraps. It says, “You do all the work for us Bioloid GP and we’ll just eat whatever you find, how’s that? What do you say, stupid?” Look at this bird. “Thanks for the treat, stupid!” “Hey, come back here” says the Bioloid GP. Birds don’t care, and you know what, the jackals do it, too. Look at these little dogs. They’re like, “Thanks, Stupid! Thanks for the mouse! See ya later!” The Bioloid GP does all the work while these other animals just pick up the scraps.
At night time, the Bioloid GP goes hunting, cuz it’s hungry. Look! Here comes a fierce battle between a king cobra and a Bioloid GP. I wonder what will happen. Look at this, there’s the Bioloid GP just eating a mouse. And then look. “Get away from me!” says the snake, “Get away from me!” Bioloid GP don’t care. Bioloid GP smacks the crap out of him. The snake comes back and it lashes right at the Bioloid GP. Oh! Little does the Bioloid GP know, FYI, it’s been stung! It’s been bitten by the snake, so while it’s eating the snake- ew, that’s disgusting- meanwhile the poisonous venom is seeping through the Bioloid GPs body, and it passes out. Look at that sleepy robot. Now the Bioloid GPs just gonna pass out for a few minutes and then it’s gonna get right back up and start eating all over again, cuz it’s a hungry little bastard. Look at this! Like nothing even happened, the Bioloid GP gets right back up and continues eating the cobra! How disgusting. And of course, what does a Bioloid GP have to eat for the next few weeks? Cobra.
Trossen Robotics is proud to introduce the PhantomX line of pro-hobby & research robotic crawlers. These modular platforms offer an incredible feature list of specs and expandability. With the ability to carry up to 2 kilograms of payload and run at nearly a meter per second these crawlers boast some serious strength and agility. The crawlers come with 6 walking gaits already preloaded and a robust gait engine for further development. Open source software allows for freedom of development and community collaboration. Control wirelessly from the Arduino compatible RC Commander, wirelessly to a base PC, or from an onboard miniPC. Accessory add-ons coming soon include a Claw, RoboTurret, and Telepresence IP Camera. Sturdy, yet flexible ABS material make the Hexapods tough and hackable for individual projects. Drill, cut, screw, and bolt to modify and hack your bot. These crawlers raise the bar on hobby and entry level research robotics while lowering the cost point for so much technology.
Check out these Specs!
Speed (AX-12+): 1.44 fps / 0.44 mps
Speed (AX-18F): 2.82 fps / 0.86 mps
Weight: 4.6 lbs / 2.1 kg
Dimensions: L 19, W 20, H 7.5-9
Payload: 4 lbs / 2 kg
Ridiculous Feature List:
3 Degree-Of-Freedom Legs
Arduino-Compatible ArbotiX Robocontroller
Open Source Software
Advanced Inverse Kinematics Driven Gait Engine
6 Different Walking Gaits Available
High Quality LiPo Battery
Rugged ABS Construction
Totally Hackable!
Add Arms, Grippers, Cameras, Pan/Tilts, even Computers!
Wireless Xbee Control via PC or Handheld
Tons of I/O available and fully programmable for autonomy
Control Wirelessly from RC or PC
Extra nuts and bolts provided for repair
High payload means you can load up add ons
Great platform for hobby, education, research, and Mech Warfare!
Also Coming soon – Quadropods & Mech Warfare Ready Kits
Demand has been high for these kits so production runs have been going fast. We recommend getting your order in queue to reserve your kit. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we ramp up production!
Trossen Robotics is proud to announce our partnership with Roborealm to bring an extremely affordable and simple way of getting started with Machine Vision! We present to you the RoboTurret Vision Tracking Starter Kit- everything you need to give your next robotics project the sense of eyesight! At the core of this kit is the MosquitIO Pan & Tilt Microcontroller, an Arduino-compatible board that provides a USB connected pan/tilt unit, I/O, motor control and a solid state relay. We’re also including a ready-to-mount Lifecam webcam and a FULL license of Roborealm to tie everything together on the PC side of things.
But wait- there’s more! We’ve collaborated with Roborealm to create a customized module built specifically for the RoboTurret withing the Roborealm environment, making it easy for those of you with little or no programming experience to jump head first into the exciting world of machine vision! On top of the module to help you get interfaced, we’ve also provided a number of various colored object tracking demos with more to come soon. Want to break out of the GUI of Roborealm and program directly to it’s API? We’ve got you covered there as well with .NET C# and VB code project examples! Never before has it been this simple to get into vision processing, and at only $150 for the entire kit we can’t wait to see what awesome projects you guys come up with. Turrets, motion detectors, robotic-surveillance, object recognition, object tracking, the sky is the limit!
Here’s a quick video showcasing some of the basic colored object tracking that can be done, but remember- that’s not all it can do!
And here is a quick video demonstrating some basic features of the RoboTurret itself (Now, with 75% more Techno Beats!):
It is pretty much a known fact at this point that Interlink FSRs totally rock. For low cost yet durable pressure & force sensing they are a great solution. The brilliant minds over at Interlink even made them standard with thin rubber backing that has an adhesive layer. The only complaint some have is that the sensors only came with thin male tabs which can be a pain to solder. Especially if you were working on a project that required dozens or more sensors. The male tabs are still available and are still a great solution for those that need a low profile sensor, but for those that don’t have a thickness constraint female connectors are now here.
Female connectors make it very easy to connect and disconnect the FSRs now. Each female connector FSR comes with a coupling pin so that it can be plugged directly into 1 pin & 2 pin jumper wires or a breadboard. The female connector is standard .1″ spacing so it can also plug right into board headers if needed. No more soldering hassles.
Sourcing the right eyeballs for your bot can be a pain. With the help of our awesome community of roboticists we have identified some great cameras for each level of price point and quality from low cost to high end research.
We have the cameras in stock now. Stay tuned because soon we will offer them with custom made brackets for mounting solutions making your life just that much easier!
PhidgetSpatial 3/3/3, 9 Axis IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) measures static and dynamic acceleration in 3 axes, up to 5g.; it also measures magnetic field in 3-axes up to ±4 Gauss and finally measures angular rotation in 3 axes, up to ±400° per second.
You have to use the right tool for the job Beavis. We now have American made JIS Philips head screwdrivers and Hex keys which are extremely tough and won’t strip or wear. Great news for those of you who have had to deal with the annoyance of cheap imports that barely make it through a single build. We also now stock Turbo Lock for a great low price of $9.95 per 10ml. Be a manly geek and git yourself sum new tools!
Another great home automation tool. Hacking together a 120V switching device is a pain in the ass. We have been looking for a device like this for 6 years. You can now safely control an outlet device without exposing any 120VAC voltages. All you need is a 5 volt signal which you can provide from an Arduino or other microcontroller or Phidget.
PEW! PEW! PEW! Every robot needs a laser. These super tiny lasers are PERFECT for robot projects. A great help for tracking where sensors are pointing, assisting visualization, or just plain adding robot bling. We were blown away by the quality and strength of dot this laser puts out. No more hacking cheapo lasers from the store. The flat rectangle form factor makes mounting this laser a dream.
We wanted to make it easy for our robot builders to couple together female to female sensor and cable connectors. So we sourced some extra long header rows to enable people to do just that. The pins are 5.8mm on one side and 8.6mm on the other giving plenty length to get a good lock with standard .1″ female connectors. We will start moving more of our sensors over to female connectors so that people can stop soldering all day and just plug and play!
How about some manual servo control?
Being robot nerds we sometimes forget that people want quick easy servo control solutions. So we added some good direct control solutions.
This is a great joystick servo control unit from ServoCity. Built very solid with a high quality joystick this controller is built to last. Be up and running immediatly, just add power and plug in your servos.
Need to do some recorded playback? This is your goto device. The Servo Recorder can be used as a simple servo driver or a complete servo motion recorder. Once the motions are recorded, you can select between single or loop playback. Recording time is 3 minutes.
Have you ever wanted to own your very own battle bot? Now with the Viper from FingerTech Robotics you can own one today. With a build time of less then an hour, you can have your very own wedge battle bot that’s ready to smash the competition! The Viper comes with everything you need, but the batteries and the five thousand dollar price tag.
Does your Robot need to scale a high tower to save a Robot Princess? Need to raise the drawbridge to keep out unsightly suitors? The RoboWinch can help any lifting, lowering, winching, or dragging you need done up to 3lbs. Plus they come with an extra motor just in case you push this little guy to the limit!
The RoboWinch accepts a standard PWM signal for input, so you can use any of our servo controllers to operate it. Man I wish I had one of these when I used to play with G.I. Joes.
Need to go wireless for teleprescence or offloading processing? The perfect video solution for your next 
