Sanbot (S1) Elf

Neil3333 · March 23, 2024, 9:57am

Is there still a market for the Sanbot S1 Elf robot?

innerbreed · March 23, 2024, 4:03pm

Iv worked on these many years ago. Having some experience with operating them on stage and at corporate events i can say they’re quite fun.

However nearly every time i now see one i do think to myself… i cant believe these are still about. They kinda bore me to death.

Id designed a few addons for them as well like drink trays, holders on the arms to attach items etc. All really dependent on what clients wanted.

The programming and options are quite nice and made it perfect for what we did with them, however i am not sure there is much of a market left for them.

Neil3333 · March 23, 2024, 4:37pm

Thanks for your reply. I thought as much as they are no longer supported. This seems a shame, as I have fifteen Sanbots to dispose of and most are brand new and have never been out of there boxes. Also, they are in the UK and Brexit makes it almost impossible to send them out of the UK.

innerbreed · March 23, 2024, 4:45pm

You should contact robotic hire sites and maybe you could strike a deal. Plenty of them in the UK. I used to work in Epping with a robot hire company and we had about 12 of them.
May i ask why you have so many?

cbenson · March 25, 2024, 11:33am

These are fairly big robots. Have you tried selling them?

Facebook Marketplace
Marketplace - RobotShop Community

Schools might try to hack them, so worst case, ask around to local high schools (tech dept and robotics clubs.) and universities (engineering)

Neil3333 · March 25, 2024, 12:45pm

Hi, I want to try and sell them, but I am worried that if private individuals purchased them, they might come back to me if they cannot get them to work as seen on the original promotion videos that are still out there from 2015 -16. There are two currently on Ebay UK at £5000 each ( they have been on for a long time). Another was sold recently on Ebay ES for around 1200 -1500 euros . All were used. I am trying to assess there value. Too low will involve too much hassle ; to high will involve too much time.

cbenson · March 25, 2024, 1:04pm

You’ll need to clearly state that the manufacturer is no longer in business and as such, any online software needed is not available. These would be for DIY / hackers.

Robots_Blog · September 16, 2024, 8:25am

I have one here. Which programming options are there? I don’t have any way to program it currently (because I just don’t know) how. Most of the apps in the app store failry specialized for a single purpose of a company or not working at all. Only thing that is useful for me right now is the remote control through the Sanbot app. But I would love to have an easy way to program the robot, just to move it on a programmed path for example.
Can you tell me more about the options or way to do it? Thanks!

VJS_Tiger · February 26, 2025, 9:05pm

Hello,
my answer may be a little late…
You can program the Sanbot Elf in Java with Android Studio (free download) via USB. However, there are a few things to consider…
To start, you need the Sanbot SDK and the documentation for it, which also explains how to set it up in Android Studio, which must be strictly adhered to.
The last SDK available to me with the appropriate documentation was “Qihan OpenSDK Documentation_v 2.0.1.10”.
It is certainly helpful to take a look at a sample project on Github.com.
From this perspective, it is no longer a problem to integrate the ChatGPT API…

Regards, André

Hallo,
meine Antwort kommt eventuell ein bischen zu spät…
Du kannst den Sanbot Elf in Java mit dem Android Studio (freier Download) per USB programmieren. Allerdings ist da einiges zu beachten…
Du benötigst zum Start das Sanbot SDK und die Dokumentation dazu, in welchen auch die Einrichtung im Android Studio angegeben ist, welches auch zwingend eingehalten werden muss.
Das letzte mir zur Verfügung stehende SDK mit passenden Doku war “Qihan OpenSDK Documentation_v 2.0.1.10”.
Hilfreich ist es sicher in Github.com mal ein Beispielprojekt anzuschauen.
So gesehen ist es dann auch kein Problem mehr die API von ChatGPT einzubinden…

Gruß André

Robots_Blog · February 26, 2025, 10:30pm

Thanks André! Good to know that it works. I found the files. Unfortunately, I lack programming experience, especially with Java.

Danke André! Gut zu wissen dass es damit geht. Die Dateien habe ich gefunden. Leider mangelt es mir an Programmiererfahrung speziell mit Java.

VJS_Tiger · February 27, 2025, 10:52am

Programming a few simple things in JAVA is less difficult and I could also provide short examples.
What I found quite complicated, however, was setting up Android Studio to suit the Sanbot environment, i.e. the basis for even getting started.
You would first have to generate the appropriate environment according to the information in the SDK with an empty program.
If you have managed this and you no longer receive any error messages in Android Studio (not higher than version 4.1.1 - 05/2020) under “Build/Make Project”, you have a basis on which you can build.
So if you are interested, create a template in Android Studio 4 (!) with
AndroidManifest.xml, Buidl.gradle, in Libs then your SDK file, ideally also with the file gson-2.2.4.jar and the “main” activity under “java” for the Sanbot Elf is created according to the specifications, then you can get started…
To do this, you need to refer to the SDK description and/or Github examples for the Sanbot Elf.
The version to be created must not be higher than 30, so it is better to set it for Android 23 to 30 and JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8,… all of this is specified in “Build.gradle” among other things.

It’s just an old bot and hasn’t been updated for years. Many of the programs are useless or don’t work correctly, so you have to do it yourself, otherwise you’ll stick with the standards.
Of course, I can also send you an empty base (or with a small reaction from the bot) for the Android Studio version mentioned above(!), but even then you will have to make appropriate adjustments in Android Studio until the environment is running smoothly…

Im JAVA ein paar einfache Dinge zu programmieren ist weniger schwierig und da könnte ich auch kurze Beispiele beisteuern.
Was ich aber als recht kompliziert empfand ist die Einrichtung des Android Studio passend für die Sanbot Umgebung, also die Basis um überhaupt anfangen zu können.
Du müsstest Dir erst einmal die passende Umgebung laut den Infos im SDK mit einem leeren Programm generieren.
Wenn Du dies geschafft hast und Du im Android Studio (nicht höher als Version 4.1.1 - 05/2020) unter „Build/Make Projekt“ keine Fehlermeldungen mehr erhältst, hast Du eine Basis auf der man aufbauen könnte.
Schaffe Dir also bei Interesse eine Vorlage in Android Studio 4 (!) bei der
AndroidManifest.xml, Buidl.gradle, in Libs dann Deine SDK Datei, am besten auch gleich mit der Datei gson-2.2.4.jar und die „Haup“Activity unter „java“ für den Sanbot Elf nach den Vorgaben erstellt wird, dann kann es los gehen…
Hierzu musst Du Dich an der SDK Beschreibung oder/und an Github Beispielen zum Sanbot Elf orientieren.
Die zu erstellende Version darf nicht höher als 30 sein, also besser festlegen für Android 23 bis 30 und JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8,… das alles ist unter anderem in „Build.gradle“ festgelegt.

Es ist halt ein alter Bot und wird seit Jahren nicht mehr aktualisiert. Viele der Programme nutzen nichts oder funktionieren nicht korrekt, also muss man schon selbst Hand anlegen, sonst bleibt es bei den Standards.
Ich kann Dir natürlich auch eine leere Basis (oder mit einer kleinen Reaktion vom Bot) für die oben erwähnte Android Studio Version(!) zukommen lassen, allerdings bleiben auch dann entsprechende Anpassungen im Android Studio nicht aus bis die Umgebung rund läuft…

MrFRO · May 3, 2025, 8:40pm

Hi, very late here. I run a (US) after school robotics club and just got one donated. No charger with it, though. Anybody know where to get one or willing to part with one?

VJS_Tiger · May 4, 2025, 9:12am

Hello,
if you don’t get an offer here, try contacting the manufacturer/supplier directly:
[email protected]
[email protected]
They were able to help me with my issue last year, so maybe it will work out with the missing automatic charging station as well.

However, you will need to pair it with the Sanbot Elf first.
In the meantime, you could charge it manually using another charger that can be plugged in on the side at the bottom.
The charging station just contains a standard external charger, but you’ll have to do without automatic charging for now.

The charging electronics (battery pack manager - BQ3055) are built into the battery. The bot reads the remaining capacity from it, responds accordingly (automatic charging, driving to the charging station), and controls the charging station, of course.

Regards,
André

Hallo,
wenn du hier kein Angebot bekommst, versuche, den Hersteller/Lieferanten direkt zu kontaktieren:
[email protected]
[email protected]
Sie konnten mir letztes Jahr bei meinem Problem helfen, vielleicht klappt es ja auch mit der fehlenden automatischen Ladestation.

Du musst sie allerdings zuerst mit dem Sanbot Elf koppeln.
In der Zwischenzeit könntest du den Roboter manuell mit einem anderen Ladegerät laden, das seitlich unten eingesteckt werden kann.
Die Ladestation enthält im Grunde nur ein standardmäßiges externes Ladegerät, aber auf automatisches Laden musst du vorerst verzichten.

Die Ladeelektronik (Battery Pack Manager – BQ3055) ist in den Akku integriert. Der Roboter liest die verbleibende Kapazität daraus aus, reagiert entsprechend (automatisches Laden, Zurückfahren zur Ladestation) und steuert natürlich auch die Ladestation.

Viele Grüße
André

MrFRO · May 7, 2025, 4:55pm

Thank you so much for responding.

I have reached out to the manufacturer about a replacement charging pile.

When you say charge it manually, do you mean the USB and micro USB ports in the battery compartment next to the battery?

VJS_Tiger · May 7, 2025, 7:24pm

No, not via USB. There’s a side port for wired charging located at the contact plates that interface with the charging station.
Description:
In the official Sanbot Elf S1-B2 User Manual, Section “Charge Mode” on pages 25–26, three charging modes are described; the third mode is wire charging:

Mode One: Auto-charging
Mode Two: Manual charging
Mode Three: Wire charging

Nein, nicht über USB. An den Kontaktplatten für den Kontakt mit der Ladestation befindet sich seitlich ein Anschluss für das Laden per Kabel.
Beschreibung:
Im offiziellen Sanbot Elf S1-B2 Benutzerhandbuch, Abschnitt „Lademodus“ auf den Seiten 25–26, werden drei Lademodi beschrieben; der dritte Modus ist das kabelgebundene Laden:

Modus 1: Automatisches Laden
Modus 2: Manuelles Laden
Modus 3: Kabelgebundenes Laden

Loreto · May 20, 2025, 10:32am

Hi Andre, I see you are familiar with the Sanbot Elf. I am working with this robot in a research group and now we have a problem. In this time we had been loading the apps in Sanbot connected the robot to the computer via (usb-usb mini), now this port doesn’t work and we don’t know what we can do.
We have tried to create the apk and pass it to the robot via a pendrive, but this does not work either. The only option that we can think of at this point is to try to load the application in the robot’s app store, but we don’t know how. Do you have any idea how we could pass the applications to the robot without using this port?

Thank you very much in advance, best regards.

Loreto