R2L Labs

After putting BASE.001 aside for some AI fun, there is some new updates to BASE.001 (V3).  Firstly, IT WALKS! I finally took the time to replicate George Chiou's MiniPlan V5 walking gait for BASE.001. While it is still highly unstable, BASE.001 is doing what it was designed to do: to walk and experiment with gaits. Secondly, the hip is getting redesigned at the moment for some better bracing of the servos and joints. Also the connectors will be redesigned so repair would be easier to use. Currently modeling and printing the new parts, pictures in next post, hopefully! [Original post on Aug 20, 2023 7:58PM PST on Blogger]

This is the end for this iteration of BASE.001 (V3), as I finally got my hands on some "smart" servos (LX-16A serial servos from Hiwonder) that I plan to use instead of these "dumb" servos. I haven't touched the code or hardware due to completing a milestone in life recently, but hopefully in 2023 I will be able to resume full attention on this project. In the meantime, here's some pictures of the robot before I tear it down and toss the parts in a drawer for who-knows-how-long. Happy belated Christmas, Happy early New Year, and see you all in the near future! Still powered by ESP32, but the inventr HERO board will be forever remembered as the first brain. #dreams2reality #r2l_bots #BASE001 [Original post on Dec 28, 2022 5:00PM PST on Facebook]

Ta-da! Behold, BASE.001's fully 3D printed body (V1)! It took a while, but I was able to make it work ok. The biggest issue with the model is that the hip, knee, and ankle isn't designed to bend much due to how I mounted the servos. I also rewrote the code for the ESP32's FreeRTOS; built-in tasks and non-blocking code woohoo! It haven't been able to walk though... so I will be starting over again, because certain joints are too limited, and the hip box is too big. The next leg design will be inspired by various types of humanoids such as TonyPi, Kondo HR-3, and others.  For walking, I am reading and studying the works of Dr.Guero2001 on his Kondo HR-3; Dr.GIY on his dancing robots; and WatakoLab on their custom humanoids. I will be uploading the code and the STL files to the github repo sometime in the future, please note it is very much a Work-In-Progress! [Original post on May 4, 2022 9:10PM PST on Blogger] 

A new year, a renewed interest in robotics! Going to resume this project, it has been sitting for too long on my shelf, waiting to be brought alive.   Currently, I am writing the code from scratch (again.) This WIP program should make everything run faster, and with less blocked code. It is very limited in functionality, calling it WIP is a understatement, maybe?  As shown in the pictures, I have labeled each servo with its port number and code name, this will help me in debugging as well as pose designing (make the robot walk, sit, etc.) Also, all servo horn brackets are now 3D printed, thus making them lighter and a bit more forgiving if the servos push too far (it will bend and recover instead of warping like the original metal brackets). Picture #2 was taken before I swapped all of the brackets; notice how the hip servos are mounted vertically instead of horizontally as with picture #1 and picture #3. Due to a project, I have been working on other 3D models and printing, t...

Working latest code of my BASE.001 robot is now live on github!  https://bit.ly/base001_repo I usually don't publish my code online, but since the goal of this project is to share about my journey in building robots, it only makes sense to share the code as well. You can also see the new, beautiful 3d printed black brackets on the robot. While they flex more than the metal brackets, they return to their original shape more or less, so less chances of "bending" and causing problems for me when recalibrating the servos after a disassembly. Goals for next update: Finish printing more brackets for the legs and maybe start experimenting with 45-degree brackets for the arms and legs. Make it walk more stable. More future goals: Add distance sensor for autonomous walking/obstacle avoidance. Share 3D model files (not sure where to put them yet) Remake the body in Autodesk Fusion. Make a website/blog/thingy to log project progress??? As always, I'm still learning, so comments,...

Progress of BASE.001: A Self-Taught Humanoid Project. UPDATE 2021/04/24: the robot went crazy while on the testing bench and it bent the metal brackets on the legs again... Calibrating the servos each time the frame gets deformed isn't gonna work in the long run so now I'm forced to switch to 3D printed brackets for the motors. Code won't be updated until then, but I hope to publish the latest working code for you all. (github and project documentation at end of post) As of this post, BASE.001 is able to automatically get back up when it detects that it tipped over (both front and back recovery is possible). Walking code hasn't changed for a while, as I'm learning how to make my servo controller "non-blocking" so I can read data from the IMU and react to it in real time. Major changes from the last time I posted are: ESP8266-based board instead of a Mega (previously I did use it, but now it's way more integrated) Wifi monitoring with Blynk + local ser...

Progress. WebSerial and OTA updates on ESP8266MOD + SSC32 + 16x SR319 + 4x 18650 + single 18650 battery pack. [Original post on Nov 20, 2020 6:49PM PST on Facebook]

Struggle some more.  #programming #unstable #walking Inverse Kinematics... I have yet to understand the concept of rotation matrixes in physical form... So here is a tweaked version of my old walking gait, only this time it's walkingV7. #diyrobot #dreams2reality #sainsmart #robot #robotics #humanoid #electronics #arduino #diy #robonxt [Original post on Jun 29, 2020 1:37PM PST on Facebook]

It's hot here. #3dprinting #mods #diyrobot #dreams2reality #servo #meltdown #smoke #r2l_bots  After getting used to my new 3d printer, I decided to print some new upgrades to improve my robot. All was good, until I left the servos powered on while I mount the new L brackets. Because I leaned the robot on its right shoulder as I install the new parts, I must have pushed against the servo too hard, and it started smoking. It's dead, burning, and smelly now.... Conclusion: once you find the "reset" position of a servo, turn it off! #sainsmart #robot #robotics #humanoid #electronics #arduino #diy #robonxt [Original post on Jun 19, 2020 1:34AM PST on Facebook]

Take a break.  Been some time since I worked on this, hopefully I can implement several MPU6050s to make this robot dynamically stable. #sainsmart #robot #robotics #humanoid #electronics #arduino #diy #robonxt [Original post on May 5, 2020 3:44PM PST on Facebook]

It's a mess, but I'm learning 😄 I haven't actually touch this for some time, only the MPU6050s. The poor robot is still waiting to be programmed... MPU6050 + two Arduino Uno (one original, one HERO) + PS2 Wireless receiver + 32 channel servo controller board + 16 servos + no wire management = mess #3dprintergiveaway  [Original post on May 2, 2020 2:28PM PST on Facebook]

Need more power.  #arduino #battery #diyrobot #dreams2reality #r2l_bots 10x 18650s finally arrived, now waiting for holders. Almost close to walking without supports, but first: #ineedpower  #sainsmart #robot #robotics #humanoid #electronics #arduino #diy #robonxt [Original post on April 17, 2020 7:37PM PST on Facebook]

Take small steps.  #arduino #diyrobot #dreams2reality #r2l_bots Didheibwifhwowyeudgwjsjakdjlsjdidbdusu!!!! Woohoo!!! Took me two freaking weeks of banging my head to figure out how to get it walking. And I'm not even done yet, but seeing it take its first steps makes me so happy....excuse me while I wipe away tears of joy...😭😭😭 #sainsmart #robot #robotics #humanoid #electronics #arduino #diy #robonxt [Original post on April 13, 2020 5:32PM PST on Facebook]

Stand up tall. #arduino #diyrobot #dreams2reality #r2l_bots Coded a custom program for the serial servo controller using an HERO (Arduino Uno clone by Inventr.io), much easier to use than the original software the servo controller wants me to use... Next: small steps. #sainsmart #robot #robotics #humanoid #electronics #arduino #diy #robonxt  [Original post on April 11, 2020 3:38PM PST on Facebook]

Finally, I've got an HERO (Arduino UNO from inventr.io) #diyrobot #dreams2reality #r2l_bots I'm surprised I could fit an Arduino into it. I guess wire management is important? 😂 [Original post on April 10, 2020 5:14PM PST on Facebook]

Starting out life in a box. #staysafe #diyrobot #dreams2reality #r2l_bots The servo controller's built-in memory sucks. Arduino + Raspberry Pi soon. [Original post on April 6, 2020 10:56AM PST on Facebook]

Prototype, but complete. First step towards life. #dream2reality #r2l_bots [Original post on April 4, 2020 1:04AM PST on Facebook]

It is time. The real hobby: robotics. [Original post on April 3, 2020 7:41PM PST on Facebook]

Organized my ASA setup so it's easier to manage. Unfortunately, face tracking at the moment is not working right due to me not understanding PID systems enough so it's disabled for now.   Planning to rig up a USB mic for some voice recognition. I guess I need a speaker as well... Anyone has tips for calibrating a PID system for the pan-tilt system?  #3dprintergiveaway [Original post on March 25, 2020 4:03AM PST on Facebook]

ASA: a personal humanoid assistant This is a project I've been working on for the past three years. It includes a Arduino UNO and a Raspberry Pi 2. The goal was to make a autonomous humanoid that could be a template for future human-like robots. Currently, it can learn, recognize, and track faces. Future plans include speech recognition, neural network machine learning chatbot ai, and finally a full size humanoid body. Obviously this is too lofty of a goal, but I wanted to see if a self-taught student could achieve the ultimate roboticists' dream: a ai humanoid. The project is currently halted due to school, but may pick it up again soon. In its current state, the Raspberry Pi 2 communicates with the Arduino UNO through USB to control the pan/tilt base of the camera. I used Python to program the Pi for face recognition through OpenCV, and then pass instructions to the UNO through serial. On the UNO is just a simple program that reads from serial and in turn, moves the servos ac...