At 6v you get 54A, each
At 6v you get 54A, each micro servo 9g eats about 300-500mA, each standard servo eats 400-1000mA. 50 degrees of freedom seems enough to me. Anyway don’t power more than 500mA from the 5v regulator of arduino.
Higher voltage motors eat less Amperes to get the same force, and they are more efficient.
I’m not planning to power
I’m not planning to power much of anything from Arduino. I’m using 32 servomotor controller boards for that. I never knew higher voltage motors eat less amperes and are more efficient. Thats very useful info thanks man!
Good on you!
Just found your post and wanted to encourage you along. For the last 4 or 5 years I’ve wanted to start work on a humanoid robot project similar to this - with mixed results.
If you check out the couple of posts I’ve put up it might help you along (maybe). I’ve done a small amount of research into an “artificial hip” kind of design for the hip/shoulder/etc joints of a human body. I theorised that this might help out from the issue of servos “X,Y” kind of placement. Would been keen to hear what you think of them, and the designs you have so far.
I’m not sure how to email people directly on this site, but if you were interested I could send you the Google Sketchup designs I started playing with a human skeleton, servos, and the number of servos needed to move each joint. I have both a full size adult skeleton and a half sized “kid” sized plastic skeleton in the shed waiting for more time to get out there and start putting ideas into reality… but who has the time :(
Cool project - what are the bones made of?
The silvery material - what is that?
I believe in making big goals, then learning and trying everything I can to get there. I spent some time doing dream-try-learn-log with my robot, and the notes I took in the log once a month are really great.
The silvery material is
The silvery material is epoxy coated onto upholstery thread which was glued onto clay, the clay was removed leaving a hollow shell of tightly wrapped thread and glue.
I’m glad you are a believer in making big goals and then going after them learning as you go! I thought I was pretty alone in that approach to projects! Its called the “crazy” approach haha! I LOVE the approach!
I like your description of this approach as being called “dream-try-learn-log” because that is a great way to describe it. I log everything via my youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/artbyrobot1 - this is like a video log of everything I do and try and I discuss my plans and what works and doesn’t work on my videos.
Thanks a lot for your
Thanks a lot for your feedback. I love that you are another person out there crazy enough to try a project of this epic scale and I encourage you to make it happen with me! This project has been my dream for 10 years and I finally decided to drop everything and just MAKE the time. But I understand not everyone is in a position in life to do that.
As far as checking out your designs, could you link them in a post here? I’m sure people reading through this thread would find that more convenient than… I guess going into your profile and investigating your past posts. I haven’t done that on this site yet. I agree that the hip and shoulder joints will pose some interesting challenges and I’ll be applying my same joint approach to them with some tweaks that I have been applying for all of my other joints. The shoulder I think is simliar to the thumb as far as joints go and I’ve designed that already so I think I’ll be good to go with my existing approach.
Flexible Mesh Exoskeleton
Exoskeleton mesh of the arm!
In this photo I am applying the exoskeleton mesh of the arm which will give the robot form representing the space the muscle would normally take up.
A bit optimistic?
From your post:
“I want the robot to ultimately move like a human, be able to walk, run, jump, do chores, dance, do sports, have conversations realistically, paint, do sculpture, etc.”
Isn’t this a bit over optimistic?
So your robot will be way better than any of these million dollar projects?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0TaYhjpOfo
Looking forward to see what you end up with 
It is a very optimistic and
It is a very optimistic and over the top goal. That goal still to me is possible but in order to achieve it will require me to dedicate the majority of my life to the project which I have committed to doing happily! For me, this is a passion project I’d do for free. I truly think robotics are amazing!
keep going even if this take
keep going even if this take years, ignore all haters
I’ve some questions
I’ve some questions regarding this project.
what’s the actuator ? is it ninitol ?
why don’t you use some 3d printer ?
The robot bones will be
The robot bones will be actuated via a tendon based system where wire is connected to joints in the same locations as muscles or tendons would normally be connected and those wires will be powered by servo motors. The servos will pull the wires causing the joints to move in the same way as they would move in the human body.
I am not 3d printing because composite structured bones are cheaper, lighter, stronger, easy to repair if broken, etc. Also, sculpting in clay as opposed to 3d software gives a better idea of scale because I can compare the bone with my other bones and exoskeleton for reference and also sculpting in clay is faster than sculpting in 3d software. Plus, sculpting bones in clay enables me to test joint function and movement prior to the casting phase.
There have been tremendous
There have been tremendous amounts of haters. Many have said I have been dropped on my head as a child or other similar things. Some say I’m going through a midlife crisis. Some say I’m delusional. Some say I’m a broken man who has lost touch with reality. I have been trying to stay positive despite this and am doing a good job of overcoming these sorts of comments.
I intend to keep going until completion and I am 100% sure I will succeed if no unforseen circumstances present themselves (such as a crippling car accident or poverty)
Thanks for your kind words sw0rdm4n!
frubber
I’ve good idea for this robot, try to google this word: “frubber”, I believe it’s suitable for this kind of robot. I predict you will consider to use SMA (shaped memory alloy) for some parts of this later. Anyway when the time has arrived for artificial intelligence part and you think you will need some teamwork, you may try to find me, I will be glad to help you developing the artificial intelligence part
I’m planning to give the bot
I’m planning to give the bot a flexible mesh exoskeleton to mimic the musculature under the skin and giving it silicone skin using techniques used in the makeup and movie special effects industry. I’ve already done a practice silicone hand which came out pretty well and I will be using the same technique going forward. For the AI I intend to do it all myself 100% and am prepared to spend up to 20 years on that part. Thanks for offering to help, but the “one man army” is part of the appeal of my project and sets it apart from the other humanoid robot teams which has made a lot of people more interested in my project.
nice to hear that, allright
nice to hear that, allright then good luck!
power
What it matters it the power that is W=Voltage*Intensity, to move a load if you must use 5 Watt, that can be given as 1A at 5V or 0.42A at 12V. Higher Amperages require larger cables, and higher Voltages may create insulation problems, as components are insulated as little as possible to lower costs.
Here’s a little update on
Here’s a little update on the project. Finally got the hand bones joined and ready to rig!
Also, here’s a link to the hand video where I demonstrate its range of motion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRTtyT2cWaI
So you have made yourself a puppet hand, congratulation!
But it is still a long way away from an articulated robot arm with any practical use. How will you add movement and power to your robot hand?
Remember that if your robot is going for pole vault as its sport it will need a lot of power
