New to Robotics and like the look of Manoi (help me please)

[LeeStar]

Hey first post here,
My name is Lee im 18 and about to finish my A-Levels. With my hobby currently being Warhammer 40K modeling I thought id stop and branch out to something ive always never quite jumped to Robotics.

I generally want a robot to fight with (my brother is likely to follow my footsteps if this is a sucess), I haven't alot of infomation on Manoi fighting but I heard his frame was built from a robot that does, also from the videos ive seen he could probally wrestle anyways.

Well ive got some questions if thy could be anwsered id be gratefull thanks.

-How hard is Manoi to assemble for a rookie?

-What computer input does a Manoi require (my laptop is doing very little atm)

-Customising the shell is there kits for this or just practice?

-Should I get another robot instead of a Manoi? and if so what one?

Thanks
LeeStar

[Orac]

I would say that the Manoi is indeed very versatile and designed for competition, but I wouldn't recommend it as a first robot.

It has taken me over 30 hours to set up the home position so far (still not quite right), and thats with some great help from other members and not including the build time !!

I am not aware of any manufacturer support outside of Japan.

Other than that, if you are skilled enough and don't mind that the software is very poorly presented (but actually packed full of good features if you can find them) it would make a very challenging and enjoyable project.

Maybe start with a Robonova though

p.s. a normal PC/laptop will be fine for programming it. You will need some other sort of remote control interface though.

It comes with a paintable body shell, i'm not aware of any other commercially available ones.

The build manual is in Japanese, some people built a Manoi from the pictures alone. Without me doing a very poor online translation myself, I would never have seen where the grease should have been applied, etc

[limor]

Hi Lee and welcome to the forum

I generally want a robot to fight with (my brother is likely to follow my footsteps if this is a sucess), I haven't alot of infomation on Manoi fighting but I heard his frame was built from a robot that does, also from the videos ive seen he could probally wrestle anyways.

Indeed Manoi's frame is probably the most robust.

-How hard is Manoi to assemble for a rookie?

It is the hardest by far out of the available humanoid kits.

-What computer input does a Manoi require (my laptop is doing very little atm)

Anything running windows XP.

-Customising the shell is there kits for this or just practice?

Manoi's only customization at the moment is the coloring of the transparent plastic shells. Ofcourse you can add gyros and acceleromenters.

-Should I get another robot instead of a Manoi? and if so what one?

The Manoi is not an introduction to robotics kind of kit simply because the construction is a tad more difficult and documentation is all in Japanese. If you are after fighting, i suggest you get the KHR2HV or RN1 because the Bioloid is more about exploring and learning robotics and programming.

[LeeStar]

Thanks alot for the information guys,
so RoboNova-1 would be a better choice thanks ill keep that in mind (going to get my final exams done first) ill probally by myself a cheep kit just to get me familair with parts then ill aim to get a Robonova kit for November-december.

Thanks again

LeeStar

[slashsplat]

We do have a pretty good - step by step - assembly tutorial with a lot of tips on the MANOI at BotConnect.com. I agree with the others' comments.