Rapiro - Programmable DIY Robot Kit

The RAPIRO perfectly suits its billing as a "Cute, Affordable programmable DIY Robot Kit", although there is a lot of room for improvement as well, which is a good thing. The range of motion of the arms and legs can be modified to make it move more efficiently. This page leads to the source files for the kit, free for modifications and tweaks: RAPIRO - The Humanoid Robot for your Raspberry Pi by ShotaIshiwatari - Thingiverse A wiki page has been created as sort of a database for any information regarding the robot which can be seen here: http://wiki.rapiro.com/doku.php I won't go into much detail about the specifics of the product, but rather my own experiences. Those have already been covered in this review by Todd Cowley:...

<br /> Brief History About Rapiro:<br /> <br /> Rapiro started out at a Raspberry Pi Jam in Tokyo and then launched a successful Kickstarter campaign: <br /> It was billed as a cute and affordable robot kit designed to work with a Raspberry Pi. It comes with an Arduino-compatible servo controller. <br /> *Note: This is Not a toy. DIY model robot kit for hobby, and for education in software engineering and robotics area. The users have to assemble the parts, and program the behavior and actions. <br /> With that note and a cost of $450 + $52.62 shipping (no optional components included) this is a fantastic resource for an Individual, School, Maker Club, or any Organization that is seeking to use it as a robotics teaching platform. On April 30th it was announced...

So, i must say that this Rapiro robot is actually quite fun! The fact that it comes as a kit makes it actually even more fun. It took me around two hours to assemble the whole thing. It went very smoothly but when I turned my Rapiro on for the first time, I thought it was dying on me. You need to be *VERY* cautious with the batteries you put in there. That guy needs loads of current, and if you're not using fully charged AA 2400mAh batteries, the servos will move in awkward and rather impossible positions when you turn you robot on, at the risk of damaging some parts. I eventually figured that out, and was able to properly initialize the robot. First thing you need to do is flash the sample app on the Arduino-like board. Good thing is that it also allows you to fine tune the initial...