SAM servos / RQ-titan and robobuilder replacement ?
SAM servos / RQ-titan and robobuilder replacement ?
by l3v3rz
Fri Mar 02, 2012 10:52 am
by PedroR
Fri Mar 02, 2012 11:05 am
Hi l3v3rz
I was about to post about this but you beat me to it
We haven't yet had a chance to get our hands on these servos but they seem very promising.
According to the specs, SAM 3 seems to be based on current wCKs but with a modified gearbox. (for smaller size and consequently less torque).
I am not yet very impressed by TITAN in its current state (the video still shows early development efforts but we can see improvements from the videos we had seen privately a few months ago).
I believe they still have a lot of development ahead of them but I know Robobuilder is making plans to attend Robocup with TITAN to compete on the TeenSize and Adultsize leagues.
Back to the video I found the "Avatar" functionality particularly funny and original. Although there's nothing amazingly technical about it, it is a very creative approach!
They also showcase a small humanoid, similar to Robobuilder but built with their new line of servos. I would imagine it will be significantly smaller since the servos seem to be 3kg and 5kg servos (where current 57xx Robobuilders use 8kg and 11kg servos).
From what I understand (and see in the video) this smaller model is probably an attempt at competing with the OLLO market segment but offer some more "serious" features including proper servos and the ability to build more complete Robot shapes.
Anyway, we had not yet heard about this model, so considering Robobuilder's schedule from announcement to Public Availability we'll still probably need to wait several months before we see an announcement and several more before any release (SAM series took 1 year 3 months from announcement to release I believe...)
Regards
Pedro.
I was about to post about this but you beat me to it
We haven't yet had a chance to get our hands on these servos but they seem very promising.
According to the specs, SAM 3 seems to be based on current wCKs but with a modified gearbox. (for smaller size and consequently less torque).
I am not yet very impressed by TITAN in its current state (the video still shows early development efforts but we can see improvements from the videos we had seen privately a few months ago).
I believe they still have a lot of development ahead of them but I know Robobuilder is making plans to attend Robocup with TITAN to compete on the TeenSize and Adultsize leagues.
Back to the video I found the "Avatar" functionality particularly funny and original. Although there's nothing amazingly technical about it, it is a very creative approach!
They also showcase a small humanoid, similar to Robobuilder but built with their new line of servos. I would imagine it will be significantly smaller since the servos seem to be 3kg and 5kg servos (where current 57xx Robobuilders use 8kg and 11kg servos).
From what I understand (and see in the video) this smaller model is probably an attempt at competing with the OLLO market segment but offer some more "serious" features including proper servos and the ability to build more complete Robot shapes.
Anyway, we had not yet heard about this model, so considering Robobuilder's schedule from announcement to Public Availability we'll still probably need to wait several months before we see an announcement and several more before any release (SAM series took 1 year 3 months from announcement to release I believe...)
Regards
Pedro.
by l3v3rz
Sun Apr 01, 2012 10:33 pm
Another video of RQ-Robobuilder. Looks smaller, lighter but sprightly, presumably it will be a lower cost due to the lower power servos, but still 16 DOF, looks similar config to current system with the lighter weight compensating for the small servos. Could be interesting. presumably a new smaller RBC unit as well. Doesn't really show it round back.
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by PedroR
Mon Apr 02, 2012 10:23 am
Hi l3v3rz
It's nice that you bring this up.
We got some more details about this model recently and, as you say, it is designed as a smaller version of the 5710K and5720T (which we now call the Blue and Red Editions).
The Robot uses SAM-5 and SAM-3 which have significantly less torque than the current Robobuilder offer (less than half) and therefore it's smaller (and I suppose also less expensive),
It's unclear what the controller will be but it seems it will be a new version of the RBC controller. We haven't heard anything yet with regards to what Sensors and interfaces it may include.
We haven't had one of these models in our hands yet but from my personal perspective I imagine it is will be closer to i-Sobot in terms of size.
If MSRDS and the Serial protocol are supported in this new platform it will be a very nice entry level Robot, for beginners, education and general hobbyists who want to focus on software rather than hardware (thus not needing a large size robot set up).
With regards to the release schedule I know Robobuilder expects to complete full certification for EU/US by the end of April.
After that I don't have more details in terms of when it is expected to reach the market/GA (I hope soon, though ).
Regards
Pedro.
It's nice that you bring this up.
We got some more details about this model recently and, as you say, it is designed as a smaller version of the 5710K and5720T (which we now call the Blue and Red Editions).
The Robot uses SAM-5 and SAM-3 which have significantly less torque than the current Robobuilder offer (less than half) and therefore it's smaller (and I suppose also less expensive),
It's unclear what the controller will be but it seems it will be a new version of the RBC controller. We haven't heard anything yet with regards to what Sensors and interfaces it may include.
We haven't had one of these models in our hands yet but from my personal perspective I imagine it is will be closer to i-Sobot in terms of size.
If MSRDS and the Serial protocol are supported in this new platform it will be a very nice entry level Robot, for beginners, education and general hobbyists who want to focus on software rather than hardware (thus not needing a large size robot set up).
With regards to the release schedule I know Robobuilder expects to complete full certification for EU/US by the end of April.
After that I don't have more details in terms of when it is expected to reach the market/GA (I hope soon, though
).
Regards
Pedro.