I am looking at getting a BRAT kit (with upgraded servos) … I have about $650 right now to put into my project … so not enough for a scout or 209 … but would like to put together maybe a BRAT big brother or something with more DOF?
Any suggestions on what to order … may be a brat kit with a few extra SES brakets or a parts list for a larger BRAT???
I’d recommend getting the BRAT kit and some extras such as a pan and tilt. You should also be sure to get an SSC-32 since you will need that for bigger bipeds.
Build it and get it walking, then once you’ve got it working you can think of ways to expand it (hip rotation, etc).
Kit comes with SSC32 and forgot to mention I have a P/T from lynmotion … that was my first purchase … I guess I am looking for a brat kit + parts list to set one up with hip rotation? Sorry should have given more detail in first post 
If you’re trying to spend more money, get better servos for your leg joints. You’ll need strong servos to build a bigger biped. I’d get no less than HS-645MG, but HS-5645 would be better. HS-475 is ok for a BRAT, but once it gets bigger you’ll end up wishing you had bought better servos in the first place.
This updgrade pack seems like a good place to spend extra budget:
I have built the brat and stronger is better for an ankle tilting biped.
If money is tight but you want to get started, the 645s will be no problem if you intend to only use the standard configuration, meaning no arms, and no head. You could get by with a pan and tilt setup I suppose but weight adds up quickly.
Using 645’s is not a waste of money, because should you decide later you want to get 5645’s the 645’s can be used for the arms and the 5645’s can be used for the legs. It’s all up to you, there are several ways to plan things out.
I guess my goal is to end up with a RC robo-one stlye robot … just not sure if the lynxmotion route is worth it … in order to get to that style bot … if I start with a brat with the 645 upgrade … then add the body, arms and head (some how) … I will have at least $1300 into it … for that I could just keep saving and have a Kondo KHR-1HV with RC or even a less $ robonova … which from what I read is better than any Lynxmotion biped … I understand folks like the SES because you can redesign/reconfig … but if you goal is to end up with a biped and your happy with the biped … why not just buy a great biped to start with … instead of piecing together a brat/biped that may or may not even work because you bought all these different parts and servos and don’t even have the right stuff in the end? Sounds to me like a lot of folks on here want robo-one style bots, can not afford them right this minute … their money is burning a hole in their pocket and buy Lynx just to have some thing and get started … but I have not seen Lynxmotion bot yet that meets the same performance I have seen out of the KHR-1HV — MHO … If someone can convince me other I would like to see it 
In MHO, you probably need to buy your self a KHR-1HV so you will have a great biped. You appear to already know what you want, so go for it!
I don’t mean to dis any one … but I have been doing research on this for a few months and the only lynx biped video I have seen has been … slow walk and stand up … no acro stuff … Does any one on here own a full lynx biped and can share full demo video displaying more movement?
I love the solid build of the product, the community and the range of design … just have not seen the end product with full function. 
How’s this one by noDNA?
lynxmotion.net/viewtopic.php?t=1989
EDIT: Sorry, just realized his video links are broken. It was definitely full function though.
If you have been researching for months and haven’t seen a Lynxmotion build that has the “full function” you want, then it probably doesn’t exist. Linxmotion products are in the relm of educational/learning products. You need a slick prebuilt bot that has the “full functions”.
lynxmotion.com/Product.aspx? … egoryID=91
The Kondor Robot IMO is more flexible than Lynxmotion bipeds only becuase their structual components aren’t as bulky as the Lynxmotion SES seem to be. I this limits the capabilties of the robot somewhat since SES weren’t neccessarily designed for a full function humanoid but rather for building a multitude of robots - thus the universal design, and as Zoomkat said for educational and learning purposes. If that made sense 
A serious SES bot would be on a larger scale than the Kondor so it’s a different visual. I think an SES bot can be plenty flexible.
Do any of you have Lynxmotion Bipeds? If so can you share some demo video/pics of them to help me get more insight to the advanced form and function of a Lynxmotion Biped
Looks like the NoDNA bot was a nice setup … but non of the links on this forum to it work??? (Is it the only full scale biped that has been posted - other than Jim’s video(s) on the products gallery?)
Just want to make sure if I lay down $1300 I don’t end up one of the “man I wish I would have got that” guys
Search “Biped” in the forums search box and you should come up with many results right away.
I looked around and I like the Futaba robot myself…its a good fast bot with great out of the box felex…
Id have one but cant sink that monies into it yet…
I’m an avid fan of the biped humanoid style of robots. So I’m going to add two cents to this topic. Functionally, the Kondo 2HV has more DOF (extra one in the head) then the Robonova and is actually cheaper then a Robonova. However, from a development standpoint, the Robonova has a great service record, and also uses metal brackets instead of the plastics that 2HV uses. The 2HV in my opinion is a much sleeker and much more capable robot then the Robonova. If you want to talk about the 1HV, which as an extra 2 DOFs, then it is only slightly more expensive then a 2HV. IMO, the 1HV is superior to the 2HV because of the hip rotations, but with the “hip rotation” mod kit offered by Kondo for the 2HV, the 2HV can be nearly as capable as the 1HV. I personally own a Bioloid Comprehensive kit, which I configured into a humanoid. I think it’s more capable then a 1HV, the servos are a lot stronger and has temperature, load, and other sensing mechanism built in… It has hip rotation capabilities, and comes with a AX-S1 sensor module, which has three sets of IR (front, right and left), microphone, and a speaker inside.
Now for a LM-based humanoid. I think the sluggish motions you saw on the .com site was due to the fact that it was using HS5645 servos. I used H645s on my biped scout and I can tell you that it is NOT capable of supporting the weight. The advantage of an LM, SES-based, humanoid is the fact that you can easily swap out the servo for ANY standard size servo. I think for the LM biped humanoid to be formiddable, the MINIMUM servo you would need are HSR5990TGs.
I think the demo videos didn’t do the LM Bipeds any justice, since I believe Jim put those together as a proof of concept and not to reflect on the programming possibility. Once you have the mechanical frame (SES brackets or otherwise), the electronics (SSC-32 plus botboard), enough torque (HSR5990TGs), “acrobatics” and fancy moves is a function of programming. Many of the biped humanoids that exists out there seems to have fancy moves is because they are “canned” with fancy moves, meaning that the manufacturers have worked on many of these moves meticulously.
Once you get past these “canned” moves, it’s up to you to feel satisfied with these, or develop it further. When I got my Bioloid Humanoid working with the default code, part of which includes walking forward, backward, turning (with hip rotation), while detecting obstacles, I was impressed for about 15 minutes. Although it took the manufacturers a lot of programming to get these moves going, I got bored with it after 15 minutes.
Now what keeps me going is to develop on top of the basic foundation laid down. What’s left to do is actually quite a lot, because my route isn’t an RC-based route. I want automatons, so this is where my journey begins with this humanoid biped.
I believe that when people look for a bot, any bot, humanoid or otherwise, you also have to look deep and ask yourself what part of the development you would like to start with. Robonovas, Kondos, Bioloids, all have many of the basic foundation laid down, so you take it beyond this. LM on the other hand starts from scratch, so the development is from the ground up, although because you have the LM community you are not alone.
Currently, I’m developing my CH3-R and Bioloid Humanoid. I think down the road, I’m going to go for a SES-based Biped Humanoid with HSR-5990TGs. I estimated the cost for it, it’ll roughly be about $2500 for a 19 DOF humanoid. But it’s $2500 for a high-performance, metal-bracket humanoid (just compare the torque of the HSR5990TG versus Kondo servos or Robonova).
What an essay, whew!!!
Edit: Forgot to mention this site:
robotservicesgroup.com/index.html
Possibly the most comprehensive site on comparisons of humanoids. Although it doesn’t include some of the newcomers like the Kumotek, Robovie, and etc, it is nevertheless an awesome site…
Tom thank you for your very helpful response!!!
I think I fall into the same boat as you … I want all the great moves but don’t want to stop with them 2 hrs into ownership
I really do think the SES Lynx produces is awesume … just trying to make sure I put my money in the right product … and the Lynx SES seems to be getting the best bang for the buck long term
I have not really worked with humanoid bipeds yet (unless a scout counts as humanoid). One thing that has impressed me is the ankle joint they can build with the bioloid plastic and the ax-12 servos. It is very compact and low profile while seemingly having good DOF in both axis. The bot in the video jbod posted at the end of the last page has this same kind of ankle, might even be made from bioloid parts. I have looked at trying to make something comparable using regular servos and ses brackets but have not yet figured out how to get it quite so low profile. orienting the servos the same way as the bioloid leaves either a surface with no bracket edge to connect or no way to hinge the joint attached to the foot. At some point I will rework my scout with some of the “close to” ideas I have considered and see if there is any improvement, but at the moment I think the bioloid has the nicest canned solution for that joint.
Just another opinion of course (mine) but really the ses approach really seems to best geared to long term enjoyment of what you have purchased. the bioloid is perhaps a close second asit is also modular but personally I don’t like the plastic so much. Then again I always liked erector set over legos as a kid so maybe it’s just a pattern for me. 
