David Calkins On Humanoid Robotics

Writing by Evan Ackerman on Wednesday, 23 of July , 2008 at 3:03 am

If you have more than a passing interest in robotics, specifically humanoid robotics, you should take a look at this episode of Revision3′s Systm. The guest is David Calkins, purveyor of robot violence, robot drunkenness, and occasionally robot wisdom. He talks about the basic design and features of android hobby bots, and if you can get the video to work (I had to use ::gag:: IE), it’s worth watching. All 40 minutes of it. Seriously, I promise.

[ Direct link to video, may require a lame browser ]

The great thing about getting a humanoid robotic kit (as opposed to trying to build one yourself) is that all of the hardest and most tedious work is done for you. You get a robust and reliable platform upon which to add, tweak, mod, hack, whatever… All without having to deal with misshapen servo brackets and toxic combinations of duct tape and super glue.

As far as the software goes, as long as you don’t let it intimidate you, writing code is actually pretty easy. People have a tendency to look at computer code and just freak out and run away, but once you get used to the appearance and general structure of it, it’s far easier to understand (IMO) than a second (non-English) language. ‘Course, that’s just my opinion as a 100% self-taught code geek, but I’ve taught some bona-fide technological luddites how to program simple things in Excel VBA. Once they agreed to look at what was going on, they found it readily comprehensible. Trust me, just give it a try, it’s not so bad.

If you’ve got the stamina to make it to the end of the video (not the very end, where things dissolve into manly giggling), David comments that “next year’s RoboGames, we’re doing full-on Mechwarrior.” Robots. Shooting each other with airsoft. And using flamethrowers. FLAMETHROWERS. Is it next year yet?

If you like the RoboNova RN1 (the one in the video), you can buy it directly from RoboGames fully assembled and ready to walk for $950, which is over $200 (!) cheaper than other online retailers. With 16 digital servos and motion-capture software, it’s pretty much ready for RoboGames competition right out of the box. Click here to pick one up, and we’ll see you next year at RoboGames.

[ Systm ]

Comments (1)

Category: Competitive,DIY,Hobby

• Add this post to
• Del.icio.us -
• Digg

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>