We’re big fans of the Bioloid system.  We love the smart actuators and integrated sensor modules, but like many Bioloid users, we’ve lamented the lack of additional sensor inputs.  Luckily for us, Bioloid guru Jon Hylands felt the pain of the Bioloid community and created some devices to fill the void.  Thanks to Robotis’ published Dynamixel architecture, anyone who’s savvy with microcontrollers can create peripherals that will blend seamlessly with the stock Bioloid components.  Jon is as savvy as anyone, and we’re happy to be using and selling the hardware he’s created.  Anyway, here’s some cool stuff for all you Bioloid fans out there, or anyone interested in using Dynamixels in their own custom project.

USB Bus Board
	The USB Bus Board gives you virtual COM port access to the Dynamixel serial bus.  It has six connectors, but of course it supports a network of up to 254 Dynamixels.  It uses the FTDI transceiver chip, so if you’ve used other USB virtual COM port devices, there’s a good chance you already have the driver installed.  A great plug-and-play alternative to the USB2Dynamixel adapter.

Bioloid I/O Board
	This general-purpose I/O board gives your Bioloid robot the ability to connect to almost any analog (0-5 volt) sensor. It includes 6 analog inputs (10 bit resolution on each). It also includes four general digital I/O pins, and can control one or two DC motor controllers using either locked anti-phase or sign magnitude PWM.  Pretty cool.

Bioloid IMU
	In one package, you get 3 axes of acceleration measurement and 3 axes of gyroscopic measurement. It comes fully assembled, and ready to install into a stock Bioloid humanoid chest compartment.

FSR Foot Sensor Board
	Look closely at the soles of your Bioloid’s feet.  Those little round indentations were clearly designed to accept 0.2" FSR’s.  This interface board can read 4 FSR’s, enough for one foot.  The board fits neatly into the foot, and plugs into the Dynamixel network.  The kit includes the board, 4 FSR’s, and leads for the sensors.

If you have any questions, or you need advice about using these boards, go ahead and post about it in the TRC Forums.

In case you’re new to the Trossen Robotics Community, here’s a quick refresher on how this contest works:  First, all kinds of fantastically talented and dedicated people come to our Project Showcase forum to tell us all about the projects they’ve been working on.  Periodically, we (the Trossen Robotics team) sort through these projects, and score them very scientifically in the following categories: "Wow" factor, Ingenuity, creativity, and presentation (this includes graphics, videos, documentation, explanation, etc.).  This is the fourth contest we’ve run here at Trossen Robotics, and the projects just keep getting cooler!  This time around, we extended the deadline and upped the stakes.  Since the last contest, the community has grown and expanded well beyond our expectations, and this has resulted in some of the best work we’ve seen yet.  If you showed off your project in our Project Showcase forum, give yourself a big ol’ pat on the back.  Now, let’s get to the meat and potatoes.  Here are the runners-up and winners, in suspense-building ascending order!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Honorable Mention

Project: "Johnny 5.3"

Creator: Andrew Alter (Tyberius)

We’ve been working a little too closely with Andrew to let him enter the contest, but we can’t totally leave him hanging.  He’s been building a "Johnny 5"-inspired humanoid/trackbot hybrid, and it’s really coming together.  His brain (Johnny’s, not Andrew’s) is a Pico-ITX running Windows XP Pro.  It has a vocal synthesizer, great big grippers, a reinforced suspension system, a snarky personality, and I’ve heard that it drives around harassing Andrew’s baby.  It’s the embodiment of robotic awesomeness, in other words.  Check out his thread, picture gallery, and his blog.

Runners-Up

Project: "Leviskate"

Creator: Rodger Cleye
Average Score: 7.63 / 10
Prize: $20 Trossen Robotics Gift Certificate!

The Leviskate is a "self-balancing motorboard."  Kind of like a Segway for people who really like head injuries.  Seriously though, this contraption is truly awesome.  There are some cool videos in Rodger’s thread, too.  Our favorite thing about the videos is that Rodger sounds genuinely amazed that it actually works.

Project: "The Bratinator Project"

Creator: SN96
Average Score: 7.67 / 10
Prize: $20 Trossen Robotics Gift Certificate!

It walks, it talks, it scares the kids.  It’s… the Bratinator.  Built around the Lynxmotion Brat biped, this monstrosity features speech, binaural hearing, a custom-machined aluminum head.

Project: "Gepetto"

Creator: darkback2
Average Score: 8.25 / 10
Prize: $20 Trossen Robotics Gift Certificate!

It really pains us to see Gepetto in the runners up, instead of placing in a cash-winning position, but sometimes that’s just the way it goes.  This was a very close race.  This bot is beautifully made from wood and metal, has a really cool suspension system, carries its laptop brain around with it, and is programmed with some really interesting behavior/mood software.  That’s really just the tip of the iceberg, so you’ll have to read through the thread to see Gepetto’s full story.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Third Place

Project: "eyeRobot"
Creator: Nathaniel Barshay
Average Score: 8.38 / 10
Prize: $100 Trossen Robotics Gift Certificate!

The eyeRobot is a robotic guide for people with vision impairments.  It has a whole slew of IR and ultrasonic range sensors for collision avoidance, and pathfinding software to keep it moving through the clearest area.  This was a proof-of-concept prototype meant to "marry the simplicity of the traditional white cane with the instincts of a seeing-eye dog."  This project is going places, and hopefully one day it will help other people go places.

Second Place

Project: "Frameless Laser Harp"
Creator: Stephen Hobley
Average Score: 8.88 / 10
Prize: $250 Trossen Robotics Gift Certificate!

Twenty-two years ago, he saw Jean-Michel Jarre play a laser harp at a concert, and from that day he’s been on a mission.  This mission finally came to fruition last month, when he completed his own laser harp, and let me tell you, it’s a pretty stunning piece of equipment.  Using a galvanometer to very rapidly and precisely aim a pulsing laser, light sensors to detect where a beam has been interrupted, and an Arduino brain; the harp sends MIDI control signals to a synthesizer.

First Place

Project: "Phoenix"
Creator: KÃ¥re Halvorsen
Average Score: 9.63 / 10
Prize: $500 Trossen Robotics Gift Certificate!

Phoenix is a six legged walking robot.  Wait, we know some of you out there may be thinking that hexapod robots are old hat.  Well, you’re wrong.  So very wrong.  Wait until you see it move.  Phoenix’s real beauty lies in her graceful motion, which is some of the most convincing and eerily lifelike that we’ve seen in a robot that uses standard hobby servos and a common off-the-shelf servo controller.  The kinematics are computed by an intricately programmed spreadsheet, which we highly recommend you check out if you’re a fan of trigonometry.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

We want to thank everyone for their great submissions.  If all goes as planned, the next contest (which is already underway) will conclude at the end of May 2008.  You can stay up to date on contest rules and regulations at the Trossen Robotics Project Contest page, and start posting your projects in our Project Showcase Forum.

The Kondo KCB-1

According to Robots Dreams, Kondo is releasing a new robot controller board.  It's called KCB-1, and it looks very promising.  The standard servo ports are gone, and in their place are six serial servo ports, 7 analog input ports, and 6 configurable digital I/O ports (4 of which can be set to PWM output).  What the heck does that mean?  Well, let's take a look.

Serial servo ports:  This means that Kondo is joining the networked servo club, along with Robotis and Futaba, and that's pretty cool.  This board will be compatible with Kondo's KRS-4000 series of serial digital servos.  Networking servos cuts down on wiring, and frees you from the pain of making sure each servo is plugged into the proper port on the control board.  The serial servo ports are bidirectional, so it may also open up the possibility of Bioloid-style serial sensor modules.

Seven analog inputs: Kondo will no longer be sadly deficient in the sensor input department, which is very cool.  Any generic 0-5V sensors should work.  IR, sonar, pressure, light, whatever you want.

Six digital I/O ports: The configurable digital I/O ports open up a number of interesting possibilities.  They could be used as inputs for foot switches, for instance, so your bot will know when its feet are flat on the ground.  They could be used to trigger external circuits.  The PWM outputs could be used to drive LED's, or H-bridge amplifiers for driving dc motors.

As an added bonus, a C++ SDK will also be available.  Unfortunately, there do not appear to be any plans to release the KCB-1 outside of Japan, so don't expect to see it in our catalog for a while.  Hopefully this board will make an appearance at the upcoming ROBO ONE competitions next month.  For some more specific info, check out the post over at Robots Dreams.

Our friend Dr. Daniel Schroeder is currently spending some time in Tokyo, and he took some time out of his busy schedule to stop in at the RT Corporation robot shop to say hi to the folks there and take a few pictures of robots in their natural habitat.  Unfortunately, he's a globe-trotting adventurer, and not a roboticist, so he couldn't offer much insight on what he was photographing.  Nevertheless, he sent us some nice pictures, which I've arranged below for your viewing pleasure.

Here's a fine pile of humanoids.  From left to right in the shelves, you've got a Manoi AT01 (unpainted), a Kondo KHR-1 with some wicked looking grippers, a KHR-1 with aftermarket chest plate, and a couple of KHR-2HV's.  Also a few more 2HV's on the floor, a nice little white i-SOBOT, and R2-D2.  If someone can tell me which one of the myriad R2-D2's that is (Hasbro maybe?), I'd appreciate it [Editor’s note: Confirmed! This is Hasbro’s "Star Wars R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid."  We sell this thing now!]  Also worth noting is the VariBo humanoid barely visible at the left side of the top shelf.  Manoi PF01's knees are also up there at the top right of the pic.

R2D2 vs. the KHR horde.  GO!

They carry the whole line of Kondo replacement parts, including servos and various colored brackets for the 2HV.  We're jealous.  They don't seem to have any KHR-1HV's in the store though.  Take that, RT!

Kondo cornucopia.

Here's some RC helicopter stuff.  Interesting, but not really what we came here for.

I have nothing interesting or witty to say about this rack of Hirobo products.

The back room contains a Micromouse maze and a 3-meter dash track.

Not much action in the shop today, I guess.

JR has been making the RB1000 and RB2000 for a year or so now, and they're some cool bots.  I like the RB2000 because it's fast, agile, and affordable (about $750).  They're tough to market in this country though, due to the lack of any info in English.

JR's RB100, RB200, and the diminutive RB300.

More JR stuff here.

Well, there you have it.

This is "Choromaru."  This neat little walker is a flexible, programmable, and expandable platform.  The stumpy little legs are 2 d.o.f., and its brain is an Akizuki Electronics AKI-H8 development board.

Choromaru!

Next to Choromaru, we have the "Pi:Co" micromouse.

RT's Pi:Co Micromouse kit.

You gotta love Bioloid.  Kondo's toddler and arm are also shown.

Bioloid and Kondo getting along.

Describing our proficiency with the Japanese language as "insufficient" would be generous.  Luckily, we already know a lot about Robonova.

Ah, Robonova.  Tried and true.

Tokyo is like the Valhalla of hobby robotics.  Keep in mind, this is just a few pictures of one robot shop, and represents only a fraction of what's available out there.  We're always impressed with how fast the robotics community is growing in the U.S., but it's clear that we have a long way to go.  If you see anything in these pictures that piques your curiosity, or anything you'd like to see in our catalog, let us know!  We love to get suggestions from the community.  Email us, or drop us a line in the forums.

First off, happy new year from the Trossen Robotics crew!  We hope you had a fun and safe holiday season.  And now… on to today's article.

We last reported on the RoboPhilo when it was unveiled at the iHobby Expo.  We had a good time talking to the RoboBrothers team and messing around with their new bot, and we've really been looking forward to getting the RoboPhilo in our shop.  Well, the time has come!  We received our first RoboPhilo shipment last week, and we've been itching to show them off.  So, like a kid at Christmas, we tore open the boxes and examined all the fun bits inside.  The following is a rundown of the major parts that come with the kit and some important features that we think you should be aware of.

We have both the kit version and the ready-to-walk version, but we took more pictures of the kit because… well because everybody's already seen pictures of the assembled robot and we just like kits better.  This guy comes in some pretty swank packaging, complete with a window so you can see everything inside.  As usual, the pictures link to larger versions.

Front.

(more…)

Ok, this is pretty sweet.  With the soon-to-be-released Robodance 4 software, not only will you be able to control an i-SOBOT from your computer, you’ll be able to control this awesome little humanoid with a Nintendo Wii controller!  You can even set up Robodance so that i-SOBOT mimics gestures made with the Wiimote.  You’ll need a Bluetooth adapter to talk to the Wiimote and a USB-UIRT to send commands to the i-SOBOT, and then you’re in business.  Be sure to sign up for the Robodance mailing list, so you’ll be informed as soon as Version 4 is released to the public.

[Edit]  Just to clear up any confusion, here’s what’s actually going on: The Wii controller sends your input to a computer via Bluetooth, Robodance translates the controller input to i-SOBOT commands, then the UIRT broadcasts these commands to the i-SOBOT in the form of IR pulses.  I can’t wait to try this out, since it sounds a heck of a lot easier than remembering all the button combinations necessary to operate I-SOBOT from its stock controller.

Found via Engadget.

If, like us, you enjoy some good bot-on-bot combat, you’re in luck!  There’s a new competition coming up, hosted by Hitec and taking place at the Electric Flight Expo on April 25th, 2008.  It’s more than just combat, though.  There will also be a 3-meter dash for your speediest humanoid and an obstacle course where you can show off your bot’s agility.  Like any decent competitive event, the Hitec Robotics Cup will end with trophies and large sums of cash awarded to the winners.  If you’re going to be anywhere near Arizona this spring, don’t miss it!  Here’s the lowdown from the press release:

There you have it, people.  All humanoids that fit the qualification specs can compete, so whether you have a stock Robonova or a suped-up Kondo killing machine, you’re good to go.  Start training now, and get ready to show off your skills, vanquish your opponents, and win goodies.

You can get the official Hitec Robotics Cup 2008 rules by clicking this link right here.

What’s that?  You don’t own a humanoid robot?  Well, it just so happens that we sell a fine selection of humanoids!

We just got WowWee’s RS Media in stock!  As we’re sure you already know, this is the newest incarnation of the revolutionary Robosapien series, and it’s clearly the most advanced robotic media appliance on the consumer market.  I don’t even know where to start.  First off, it’s huge.  Well, it’s 23 inches tall, which may not sound that huge, but it’s pretty imposing.  If you stood him on a stool in the middle of a room full of dancing badgers, nobody would pay attention to the badgers.  That’s right.

Check it:

Hello, sir.  Please don’t hurt me.

We’re glad that WowWee finally strayed from the white-with-black-accents motif.  RS Media proves that they are no longer competing with Apple for shiny monochromatic blandness.  Here’s a full shot of him, still in the box. Unfortunately, he’s going to have to stay there until we have time to give him a proper test-run.

As with all WowWee products, he’s strapped into his box like a monkey ready to be shot into space.  A space monkey.

Seriously though, you’ll need much more than a test-run to really get the full experience.  It has more amazing features than Ron Popiel’s Magic Rotisserie.  For starters, it’s a really cool looking bipedal humanoid robot that’s loaded with sensors and other goodies.  That, in and of itself, should have you running for your credit card.  It can roam free, responding to its environment by talking to inanimate objects and ordering around your other WowWee Robo-family bots.  From the remote, you can trigger demo moves, walk around using three different gaits, move his arms around, pick up and throw stuff, switch between his different personalities, and run through his various media capabilities.

Let’s talk about those media capabilities.  RS Media is a walking and talking MP3 player, audio recorder, still picture camera, video recorder, video player, and video game system.  If he had cell phone and internet capabilities, you’d pretty much never have to buy another piece of consumer electronics ever again.  Pretty much everything he does is modifiable via a slick software interface.  He connects to your computer via USB, and from there you can upload and download music, pictures, videos, personalities (including new voice files), motions, and Java games.  He has 40 MB of on-board memory flash memory, but you can add up to 1 GB to this by installing an SD memory card.

RS Media comes packaged with several Java games (one of them resembles the old Neo Geo game "Bust-a-Move," one of the greatest time-killer games ever), and you can even upload Java-based mobile phone games!

For those of you who haven’t seen it, here’s WowWee’s promotional video:

For more information, check out the following links:
Robosapien RS Media product page at Trossen Robotics
Official RS Media Home Page
RS Media Roboguide page at Evosapien.com (Hacking tips, including pictures of RS Media’s guts!)

The TR team spent last weekend at the iHobby Expo, and we were impressed by the strong robotics presence at the event.  One of the high points was getting some hands-on time with the brand new RoboPhilo, and speaking with some of the minds behind it.  RoboPhilo is another addition to the growing number of “budgetâ€? humanoids on the market.  To keep the cost down, RoboPhilo uses plastic frames instead of aluminum, and lower-cost hobby servos instead of precision digital servos.  Of course, some performance is sacrificed, but RoboPhilo makes up for it in a number of ways.  For starters, the articulation is great.  It has 20 servos, including hip and waist rotation.  The hip and waist joints are pivoted by indirect-drive systems, so less load is placed directly on the servo axes.

The software is very intuitive.  It has a graphical interface for setting servo positions and programming motion sequences, and an SDK for people who want to use some of the robot’s more advanced features.  The SDK will be necessary for accessing the 8 analog inputs and setting up sensor-driven events.  Unfortunately, since the servos are analog, there is no "pose and capture" capability for setting servo positions.  We spoke with RoboPhilo’s creators at the expo, and they said that a firmware update was in the works that would add support for digital servos.  They also said that there are many add-ons coming, such as servo upgrades and sensors.  We’ll be keeping a close eye on RoboPhilo.com for updates.

We shot some video of RoboPhilo in action, and also of the software.  We’ll post the software video as soon as YouTube is finished processing it.

Edit: Here’s the software and overview footage we promised.

UPDATE: We now carry the RoboPhilo!

Saturday & Sunday October 20-21 iHobby Expo is open to the public and this year there will be a lot of robots there. iHobby has a robotics pavilion to introduce all the RC geeks to their newest friends, robots!

Trossen Robotics was invited to come and we will be there showing off some humanoids. Some other cool robot people that will be there are: Chibots (Chicago Robotics Club), Robot Magazine, CRCA, and others.

It should be a good time, if you are in the area stop by!