Newbie looking for help

[Dave]

Hey, just wondering if anyoe could help me out or give me some general tips on which robot kit i should consider to buy. I have never really programmed them before but building is no porblem! I have so far looked at the bioloid comprehensive kit as I really want to have a humanoid or similar! as well as robonova. The khr also looked impressive. I just do not know what to do.
Any info on how to modify them as well is a great help. I do not want to "jump the gun" but would like to purchase something that will keep me going for a while with upgrades and modifications when i am ready to do so.
Thanks everyone and anyone who reads this , sorry it soooo long.
Dave

[slashsplat]

Can't advise on what to buy. I can offer my limited experience for you to weigh.

I got a MANOI AT01 because of the servo controller being a real new design with three integrated analog ports. The joint parts are made from really strong resin and do not flex and bend like metal joints. It seems to be the most recent incarnation of the breed.

Also, the body is awesome, and non-technical humans are blown away by it. "Eye appeal is BUY appeal."

It currently comes with no support, and that may have been part of the attraction for me. They are working on English docs. I did not really find the Japanese docs a problem, and I do not read J. You just have to follow the pictures methodically. (I found out I was not as methodical as I thought I was.)

So far, it has been a fantastic experience, and the first humanoid I have done. My prior experiences were with Parallax BasicStamps and all kinds of sensors. This is a whole NEW world.

I cannot compare it to anything other than a Kondo KHR-1/2 on which it is based. Compared to that, MANOI is a superior machine, mechanically and electronically. And it has a cool body.

[Humanoido]

I got the Robonova-1 because it has comprehensive and intuitive software. It's a popular product with info about many add-ons, such as bluetooth, sonar, speech, tilt, acelerometer, radio wireless, vision cameras, and there's plenty of good advice and help in the robosavvy forums. Also, I can get parts when I need them, and Hitec support is wonderful. There's lots of info about mechanically expanding this humanoid, and it comes with lots of remarkable software and programming examples. It's a very capable humanoid, i.e. many motions are already developed. Plus, it's one of the lowest cost, i.e. lots of bang for your buck. It's cool that you can get the kit or the assembled RTW version. Just my 2-cents...
Humanoido

[zaboomafuu]

not shure on something that I am shure is pretty important.... what (if any) is the diffrance between a micro controller bs2 or atom and a servo controller ssc-32.... right now I am thinking that the micro controller is what holds your programing and the servo controller is what acctually tells the servos what to do... like all the vid's of a bot on a tether ar running from pc not the micro controller... need to know this b 4 I order my first parts.... looking at a lynxmotion scout as my first model.. its 12 DOF but I wanna build a madcat head from mechwarrior for it and ad 4 more in simple arms. also want electronics that I can put in a more humanoid chassie once I get the feel of programing