I am not clear on why the RN-1 and Kondos are left in the dust behind Bioloid and a few other newer bots - all that is really needed to bring more capability to them is to swap the controller for a PC-based one (Roboard, etc). Servos may not be as powerful as in other bots, but if they can haul a Roboard around on their backs, there's no reason to let them gather dust...
I tend to think of a biped minus controller as a platform, one that can be swapped with other bots. A PC-based controller makes a lot of sense, as software doesn't have to be hardware-specific at that point.
There is a lot of room for growth in these robots, but I think the real growth opportunity remaining is in software, not so much in the hardware itself. Software developed to run on a Robonova or Kondo should be perfectly capable of being switched over to a Bioloid GP or even a larger custom bot with few changes.
The Bioloid GP is the only "off-the-shelf" bot that catches my eye, short of the Robonovas I already have. That said, I know the software I'm working on will be of no use if it only runs Robonovas, so I'm planning for flexibility beyond just the RN-1 and Roboard (with its internal PWM, etc).
Software is the real key here, and it always will be. The finest hardware made will always fall short of a lesser hardware platform with better software.
Statistics: Posted by PaulL — Wed Nov 21, 2012 3:53 pm
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