Hey, check out these robots!
forums.tribotix.info/forum9/71.html
-Hive
Very nice hive, any chance you could upload some videos or are you not up to that point yet. I am most curious about the robotis servos and how well you handle. I am also curious of its size and weight.
Again those are very nice
nick
It weighs in at about 2.5 kg and is about 45 cm tall. I hope to have some videos of the robot up within two weeks or so. Routines will be written in C, but to start out PTP techniques will be used for walking gaits and basic subroutines (getting up, punching, kicking, etc.). The plan is to eventually get a dynamic gait down using a 5-axis IMU and using the compliance of the DX-117 servos.
The DX-117’s are absolutely amazing. They have 37 kg/cm of torque (at 16V) and .126 sec/60 degrees. Also they have 1024 steps over 300 degrees. They are very smooth and very strong.
I have updated the original post with some CAD design pictures and further layout of the robot. Thanks for the comment Nick.
-Hive
That’s some impressive specs on the servos. How much are those babies?
The servos alone are $195.50usd and $175.90usd if you were going to buy enough to build a biped (over 20). And although they are very expensive they are well worth it: you get what you pay for.
Each can measure their own voltage, temperature, load, and more. They can be programmed to have an alarm state so if one of these values goes outside the set range the LED on the back turns on, or -if you want- the servo just sets itself off. They also have a full metal gear set and a Swiss Maxon motor - so nothing is going to be breaking due to use anytime soon. Furthermore they are linked via daisy chain through a tough wire so its harder to snip it-plus they communicate at 1MBPS.
Needless to say, I am very impressed with how they perform.
Those specs look a bit too good to be true. Can they really run at 16V? Assuming it was running at 6.0V or 7.2V the servos seem to be on par with OpenServo converted 5955s (and essentially the same price).
They are actually rated up to 19V. They definitely seem work at 16V very well (which is what I have them running at). I use a four cell, 1320 mAh battery that discharges at 20C. The battery starts at just over 16V.
I also use a laptop charger to work with the robot when he is not on the battery. While this runs at 15.7V it can only output 4Amps, so these servos suck that down pretty quick (each can draw 1200mA at max-current). But usually if nothing is resisting the servos (like the ground if the robot fell over) they will not draw that much. If they do then the voltage drops (just due to the charger not being able to provide) and my emergency status is switched on and the servos shut themselves off with the LED blinking.
So they are basically high end servos that are modified to be overvolted with better motors. I missed the part of about them running at 16 Volts. If they had those specs at 6 to 8 volts, that would be impressive. But almost any decent servo would put out loads of torque if you modified it and swapped the motor to take 16V. That is alot of voltage for servos.
Now I’m starting to have servo envy. 
yeah I was also thinking that it seems like you could upgrade the h-bridge in the open servo to run at 20-30V pretty easily… then you’d just have to worry about burning up the motors. Another thought is the geartrain itself would have to be able to handle the additional torque or you would eat gears and bearings too.
I’m not sure about the bearings, but the titanium metal gears in the 5955 and similar Hitech servos probably could do it. I wonder what the max voltage the motors in them can take? I had been pondering an OpenServo conversion for the I2C position stuff, but if it can augment their strength as well… Makes spending that $30 and risking possibly killing it seem a bit more worth it. Lol.
The new servo that Jim is developing should be a big help, if it’s unusual mechanical arangement doesn’t present too much of a configuration challenge. He has probably already thought all that out though so it will be interesting to see his first prototypes being applied.
Yea, that unusual mechanical arrangement is bothering me. I had considered posting my concerns on the thread in the SES section, but I though I’d wait till it was more fully cooked. I don’t understand why he didn’t move the encoder to the back of the device and put a C type bracket around the whole thing. Put a small case on the side of the motor to hold the electronics and you’d basically have a Mega scale high power servo. Even better would be to put the encoder on the shaft, so it could use other things besides a C, but I don’t have any servo that isn’t on a C which uses anywhere near that power. Standard sized SES components could do the more menial jobs (and wouldn’t be 5955s either, more like 5475s for grippers or Futaba 3003s).
I couldnt help but notice you two hijacking this thread
Uh it’s 2-1/2 weeks old, ohh’s and ahh’s about the cool topic have shifted to more technical details of making something like that… like money, power, compatibility. Should we be discussing what color he is going to paint the brackets? 
I like blue
Oh, yeah one the picture I saw a desing that I was thinking about making a couple month back, it’s how the to DOF in the ankle are placed compared to the one from LM, I’m sure it could be done with a bit of tinkering. I also like the way the thy is a bit round tso it can crouch better than the ones from LM. hmmm I have some stuff to do when I have all the servos I need 
where do you get those black wires to put over the servo wires?
If the servos don’t come with it, you can get cable sleeving very similar for a few dollars a foot. I know that places like xoxide.com/sleevingkit.html sell black sleeve very similar (if not exactly the same) to that. Note, that that kit is designed for case modding and only has 10 ft of the proper (I think) 1/4" sleeving. It might be the 1/8". However, it is cheaper than getting 10 ft of the stuff by itself on their site, how odd.
Is there computer stores I can get them at? I think buying some cable sleeves off the internet and waiting impatiently for them to come isnt worth it.