One question, when I switch on my RN, I have to steady him while he extends both legs otherwise he falls over, is this the norm or should the robot stand up unaided from a squatting position?
It seems that his left leg is slower than the right to extend, can I assume one or more of the servos area bit dodgy?
He should stand up straight on his own. Double check the trims, make sure the legs are a mirror of each other and that the feet are flat. Mine will try to vault himself forward if I make him move from kneeling to stand on a low battery - might not be the servos. I'd test them one at a time with the Robonova sofware, making sure all the servos behave similarly with no load on them. Could be a weak battery. Even on a 5v PC supply (more than enough amps), moving to standing at a faster speed makes him a bit weak in the knees. He really needs 6v, and a weak pack won't hold up 6v as the amps increase (do more faster, etc).
I bought some parts to make new battery packs last night, I'll post back about 'em once they're built - posted about them here: http://robosavvy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=38293
Where do the like of yourself and other RN1 owners get spares from these days?
Spare Robonova's.
And extra servos. I bought some from http://www.servocity.com, but they don't stock them anymore. I ended up calling Hitec about the Karbonite gear in the HSR-5498SG (I have a bunch of these, they're an upgrade to the HSR-8498HB), they pointed me to an equivalent gear set for another servo they sell, and I bought a bunch of 'em. They might be able to do the same for the HSR-8498HB, I didn't ask.
A word of caution - be careful about the grease you use if you end up greasing a servo. I use the Hitec stuff. The reason I say this is, I bought a RN-1 off Ebay, and someone used what looks like petroleum jelly inside, and that servo was completely fried.
It's getting increasingly difficult to find parts for these guys. It's a shame Hitec decided to quit making them.
Closest similar competitor (my opinion) is the Bioloid GP, but he costs more than I really want to pay. There is a 'bot out there from minirobot.kr (I believe they did the original RN-1), but it's hard to say how well it is supported, haven't even seen an owner of one post here.
With the rework I've been doing on my main bot, I can't really call him an RN-1 anymore. That said, I've been wondering how well the Robotis AX-12 would adapt to the RN-1's body style / configuration and what it would take to build up a "Robotis Robonova"... I think that'd be a good seller.
As much as plastic bots (ex, Bioloid, etc) are very popular, I just don't find myself interested in them...
Statistics: Posted by PaulL — Sun Jul 07, 2013 3:13 pm
]]>