I’m pretty new to the world of robotics. I’ve read lots of articles on determining size of motor needed, but everything I’ve seen has been for wheeled robots. It’s also possible I just don’t understand what I’m reading!
I have made a wheeled robot before (Star Wars MSE droid), but I didn’t have to determine the motor or servo size as I used a Traxxas Bandit as my base and used a Raspberry Pi along with an adafruit servo controller to have it do what I want.
I figure when all is said and done, my robot will be about 20-30 lbs (9-14 Kg). From some of the bipedal designs I’ve seen, I believe I can get away with 6 total servos/motors (I’m not sure if I need servos or stepper motors at this point). 3 each leg: one for hip, one for knee, one for ankle.
I know I need to determine a torque rating, but I admit, I have not had to deal with torque ratings before and I’m at a bit of a loss.
Don’t worry so much! The design of your robot is up to you. If you want your robot to have very precise movements a good option is a stepper motor, but if that doesn’t matter to you then go for a servo!
I suggest you read the following tutorials:
And that you take a look at this tool:
Also, I recommend you visit the Robots section because there you will be able to find many interesting projects that could be used as a guide, for example:
