Julian's Postbag: #46 - Sunfounder Quadruped Robot Kit

Unboxing and some assembly of Sunfounder's walking robot kit. A couple of Arduino Nanos in here, plus nRF24L01+ modules, 12 servos and laser cut acrylic pieces.

[HariWiguna]

As usual, great job sharing, Julian.
Can't wait to see it walk!

[Dosbomber]

I designed and built one of these a few years ago, only with 6 legs (hexapod) (18 $ervo$.. cha-ching!).  That looks like 6mm acrylic.  I originally made mine with 3mm acrylic and it was way too "wobbly".  Looking forward to seeing this one in action!

[ElGatoLoco]

Cool.  I hope you give us a good look at it once it is assembled.

[pnesap]

Big Cheerio on this one, can't wait to see it in action!

[roidroid]

Well damnit, part-for-part this is alarmingly similar to a project of my own which is still in the early stages.  Yet it looks like Sunfounder has come along with a product, more polished than i would have considered myself, and already shipping!  :(

[pkarora]

Eagerly waiting for the upcoming videos of this robot

[reggiebacci]

Hi Julian, don't forget that those nRF24L01 modules are 3.3v Vdd (and 5v logic -weirdly). Probably already taken care of by the kit, but better safe than magic smoke.

[chas.cooper]

Julian, you raised an interesting question about the robot's movement in the video on their website.  Looks almost as if the code might have some inverse kinematics. Did you find out how that works?  (e.g., an SDK that allows you to do inverse kinematics vs. hard-coded servo positions)  Or is that a topic for your next video?

[zaprodk]

Julian, i'd like to look at the code for it, but i cannot find it online anywhere. SunFounder's website is a mess :/  - Did you find any place online with the documentation?

[Tocsin-Bang]

Personally I just put a magnet on the side of a screwdriver when I need it to be magnetic, I find permanently magnetised tools a pain as they keep picking up oddments of waste like component lead ends.

[nonoaidnono]

I have a neodymium magnet, how do you magnetise the screwdrivers?

[ScottieNiven]

I would love to get one of these myself, but the price is just a bit too much :(

[callumBee]

£100 ouch :( nice kit though! Shame on the cost.

[RobB_VKES]

Interesting project Julian. A bit pricey for my tastes but then I am not much into robots :)
I can't believe they are still using the PL23xx uart which are of course almost certain to be fakes considering Prolific themselves dumped it some time ago.
You might try some lube on the screws BTW.
Cheers
Rob

[tech]

Doesn't look too good so far from this short intro, the price is a little steep to begin with. On top of that you have to get your own set of 4 18560's, I can understand toys not coming with the 2AA batteries but 4 18650's will not be just a couple of quid and really should come included with a real "kit". Also what is with poking out chaff from holes in parts? If I am buying a kit and especially a high priced one (for a toy) then I would expect the machined parts to be well.... machined. Otherwise they may as well just laser mark all the holes and you could chuck it under a pillar drill yourself. It is odd as it has a little odd whiff of cheap chinese crap ahout it but oddly has an inflated price tag.

Will be interesting to see the videos on this to see just where the good stuff of it all is.

[dominoo]

That's one of the biggest bullshit penny pinching moves a company can pull on its customers, cheaping out on screws/ basic hardware. No customer would even notice a ten or twenty cent increase in price for screws or hardware that is ten fold better quality to ensure their operation isn't hindered by subpar materials.