Meet the ROBOTIS Darwin-Mini robot: a humanoid robot you can build and program to get started in robotics. It has an open source embedded board and supports R+ Task and R+ Motion. It has 16 Dynamixel XL-320 servos and 3D printable frames. You can control the robot from your smartphone. Adding additional modules to upgrade it is also an option.
Meet the MINDS-i 2-in-1 Super Rover Kit: a kit with everything you need to assemble a 6WD ATV or 4WD Super Crawler. The 6WD ATV has 6-wheel independent suspension with 4-wheel steering. The 4WD Super Crawler also has 4-wheel steering and can perform 75 degrees of axle rotation. The kit includes motors, tires, steering hub, battery, and other parts for you to get started.
Meet the ROBOTIS Bioloid Premium Kit: a humanoid robot with adjustable posture and various sensors. In fact, it lets you add your own sensors and features Zigbee technology for remote control. With its C-style programming interface, you can customize the robot’s behavior. The transparent humanoid skin lets you customize your robot easily.
Meet Reed: a transformable cube that reacts as you blow into it. It is built using an Arduino, 2 servo motors, and a speaker. The below video gives you a better idea how this transformable cube works:
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Meet the AirJelly: a remote-controlled jellyfish that glides through the air using a helium-filled balloon propelled by a electric drive unit. As you can see in the below video, the AirJelly moves around in a graceful fashion:
We had a chance to cover the Makerarm robot here just a while ago. It is a robotic arm that can 3D print, carve, plot, assemble, and do a whole lot more. You can even use it to unbox new products for your YouTube channel. This video from the team shows Makerarm cutting plywood with a CNC milling head.
Meet igus: a child-sized humanoid robot for studying human-robot interaction. It can balance on one foot, walk, kick, get up, and use computer vision to play soccer. The robot is modular and open source. It has a ROS-based software. The below video shows what this robot is capable of:
Robots are going to do many things for us in the future. They are going to be specially helpful in space exploration and search & rescue missions. Developing a robot that can survive the challenges those missions pose is not easy though. The below video shows the NimbRo Explorer taking a soil sample, finding objects, moving them around, and operating a switch.
Pretty impressive, isn’t it?
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Meet the Sphero SPRK: an app-enabled robot you can easily program to roll, flip, spin, and perform other complex moves. Since it has a text-based code viewer, you will be able to see the code and learn more about programming. The robot has something for beginner or advanced users.
The programming interface has blocks that turn ideas into code. As the above video shows, you can use these robots to teach kids science and technology.
Meet the T8X Spider Robot: a versatile robot that looks like a spider and moves like one. It has 26 servos and relies on the Bigfoot Robotics Engine to perform bio-inspired, realistic movements. You will be able to send commands to your robot from your smartphone, tablet, or computer.
