Excellent timing, I am looking at getting a hexapod soon and I love how this guy looks and moves. So Jim are you going to have this as a full kit like the other hexapods. What servos does Zentas have in his? I am hoping that like the others there will be the servo upgrade to the 645s. Anyway I’ll be keeping watch on the product section.
To streamline this, we will offer the robot without servos, and you can just get 6 packs of the servos you want. We will not have a full kit like the AH3-R until we have a powerpod version that supports it. In the beginning the Sequencer program and Zentas spreadsheet will be made available.
Leg and Chassis parts are ordered! 8) I am expecting to receive them later this week! These parts are only samples before production, so they will not be anodized, but they should look very shiny. lol I changed the femur and tibia a little bit. I will post images as soon as possible.
Please release these AFTER my birthday >_<;; I have too many things I’m considering wanting and it makes it very hard when you add a Phoenix to the list!
Can’t wait for pics though 
Jim, that is good news, I think I prefer them without the servos - I already have an SSC-32 and Bot Board, but I’ll probably interface the gumstix to the SSC-32 anyway.
Any ETA? I need to see if I can sneak this in as a Christmas gift
Nothing to report yet. I am expecting the samples this week and if approved the production will start immediately. When the parts are received we will still need to have them anodized. I am trying to get the parts in stock for Christmas.
Hey Jim,
It would be cool to see vids of the Phoenix running both the inline and round PowerPod programs.
I guess I could wait until you build an aluminum prototype… 
Here is the current Phoenix robot design. The aluminum parts are tumbled. I’m not sure I love the finish. I like it, but would appreciate some feedback.
I think its a nice alternative to brushed aluminum, but Im not crazy about it 
Sweet, you tweaked the design. It’s much more appealing with the board inside the body. I assume both the SSC-32 and ABB will fit stacked in there- is that correct?
My personal preference would be to not have a big hole in the top either. I understand it may simplify some maintenance tasks, but I’d rather have it protected the other 99% of the time, and it looks better hidden.
All in all it’s a really great looking product. On the finish question, I’m almost positive we are going with black.
Here is a closeup of the finish…
It looks ok and one advantage is it will resist scratching well, however, it looks a bit dull and it reminds me of galvanized fencing.
Personally, I would love a polished mirror finish. Is buffing more expensive than tumbling?
I think it needs more black.
I think going with a mirror finish is too risky becuase the robot is bound to get scratched easily during assembly alone. I love a good mirror finish as much as anyone, but I don’t think its practical IMO
Just got off the phone with my job shop. They are going to quote me for the brushed finish. I wanted to see the parts tumbled, and they are ok, but I don’t think it’s the way to go for this bot. I should have parts next week. Then we select a good anodizer. I honestly can’t say if these will make it under the tree. We are going as fast as we can here…
I dont understand, is your work bench lined with sand paper? 
I’m a butter fingers with a sharp flat head screw driver
The images are with the SSC-32 inside. The Bot Board can mount directly to the top of the top chassis panel. This is with a “AA” 6vdc battery inside.
I just can’t remove the hole in the top panel. I wasn’t going to make any of them black, but it looks as if I should.