Robot Owners with Bioloid and Robonova

[cdraptor]

I've been messing around with the Bioloid in Humanoid form for a while now. Was hoping to get some feedback from people that have compared the Bioloid to the Robonova. From watching videos of the Robonova in action, It looks to me as though the Robonova more stable. I've been playing around trying to accomplish Robonova like moves. Here's a one legged flap in a Robonova similar style.

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Anyway I am planning on robot purchases and I keep pondering on getting a Robonova eventually. For now I wait for the Futaba RBT-1 coming soon.

[limor]

The Bioloid weighs more, the center of mass is higher.

[austin007]

do you mind sharing the source code with me?

[Pev]

Hi,

I do have both a Robonova 1 and a Bioloid kit and I'd go with the following comments:

1. The bioloid kit is a very clever and fun robot construction set. You can build lots of different designs and go wild with your imagination (I am thinking of having a go at a tripod when I get sometime). However as you said there are some restrictions, primarily the interfacing piece. Everything is interfaced on a daisy chained TTL level half duplex serial connection so adding additional sensors, gyros etc is problematic as not only do you have the issue of the code to make the sensor work but also the hardware to create the interface. Having said that I have had a lot of fun and continue to use my Bioloid kit but primarily not for Biped stuff, more for multi-legged robots like hexapods and quadpods etc. As for stability I actually find my Bioloid humanoid falls over less than my Robonova but thats probably because it does less erm acrobatic moves.

2. Robonova is pure biped, well engineered (although lacking in hip rotation but lots of people here are working on that). It has more standard interfaces for sensors such as AD (analog to Digital) port, PWM, serial and obviously all the servo stuff. The product is well finished and there is a wealth of hacks and add-ons for it (like BauerMech's grippers which are awesome).

Software wise the bioloid has a more graphical programming interface which is great for someone new to programming but can be a bit of a pain if you are used to banging out code in something like VB or C. It also breaks movement programming into one area (the motion editor) and and sensor/logic programming into a seperate piece (the Behaviour Control Program). Obviously a lot of people are going down the C route and this seems to be well supported by the formuns.

The RN 1 has 3 programming interfaces but I must confess I have only used the RoboBasic one and this does allow for what I call programming (more akin to VB etc) and also handles all the catch and play stuff for motion capture.

All this said my humble opinion is if you want a Biped go for the RoboNova 1, if you want a robot experimentation kit go for the Bioloid.

I am glad I have both as RoboNova is my biped and the Bioloid kit is my experimentation platform for just about everything other than Biped. As an example I did build the Bioloid Humanoid but quickly rebuilt it as 2 varieties of Hexapod, a basic robotic arm and as I mentioned am now considering a tripod design.

It is, obviously, a very personal choice and all I can say is that these are the conclusions I have come to owning both.

Hope this helps,

Pev

[JavaRN]

I agree perfectly with you pev. I have them both and as you said Robonova is a great humanoid, but Bioloid Kit lets you experiment with other forms of robots - which makes the hobby more interesting.

[BillB]

I also agree with Pev. It is also worth remembering that biped robotics is very, very time consuming. Each time you modify the Bioloid in a way which changes the mass distribution you need to tweek all the moves. Which takes many, many hours.

If you are a more casual user you will soon get fed up of having to reprogram the robot each time you modify its physical structure. And end up sticking with one physical configuration.

So for casual users the RoboNova is really worth considering - since the physical configuration is fixed, each time you create a new move you are improving the robots abilities, and not starting from scratch having to reprogram al the basic moves again, and agian.

Personally, I have both the Robonova and Bioloid. I keep the Robonova for entertaining guests and friends - the stock moves always get a 'Wow that is amazing'. I use the Bioloid for experimentation and in an endless quest to get the basic moves working after each change. Since I am always changing the Bioloid configuration I only ever seem to have the basic moves ready - which never really gets a sincere 'wow' from friends & family.

[StuartL]

I can't really add too much to the previous comments. The only advantage of the Bioloid I think has been overlooked is its potential for position, torque and speed feedback. Admittedly the torque feedback is more noise than signal but it is there, and the easy access to position/speed feedback is pretty cool.