A Step Up for DIY Robotics

Eric Wu’s Q8bot PCB Robot is an affordable quadrupedal robot powered by an ESP32C3 that you can build at home to learn about robotics.

Nick Bild
11 days agoRobotics
The Q8bot PCB Robot is easy to build at home (📷: Eric Wu)

Learning about robotics can seem like a daunting task — and it certainly can be. The advanced sensors, actuators, and the costs that go into developing cutting-edge control algorithms can easily drive prices into the tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for a state-of-the-art robot. And hardware costs aside, the complexity of these systems can make operating them a task better suited to a team of experienced engineers than a weekend hobbyist.

But does it need to be so expensive and complicated? Certainly not when you are just getting started and want to learn some basic concepts in robotics. Take Eric Wu’s Q8bot PCB Robot, for example. It is a very capable quadrupedal robot that can be programmed to walk, run, jump, and more — and the parts cost under $300. It is not just a commercial product that you will not actually learn that much from either. Wu has published instructions that make it possible to build a Q8bot PCB Robot at home, so that you can learn in detail what makes it tick.

A custom PCB is at the heart (or rather, spine) of the robot. It is equipped with a Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C3 development board and a circuit to drive the servos that power the legs. Speaking of the legs, they are driven by a set of eight (two per leg) Dynamixel servo motors that connect directly to the PCB — no wiring is to be found anywhere in the robot’s design, keeping it nice and neat. Power is supplied by a pair of rechargeable 14500 batteries. The robot’s frame and multi-jointed legs are all 3D-printed, and the design files have been made available for anyone that wants to produce their own copies.

The Q8bot PCB Robot is controlled wirelessly via an ESP32C3-powered dongle that plugs into the development computer. The dongle sends raw joint angles to the robot via the ESPNow protocol.

Everything one needs to build their own robot, from the STEP, STL, and Gerber files to the schematics and bill of materials, is available for download from GitHub. Wu even provides his contact information with a promise to do his best to answer questions from fellow robotics hobbyists. The Q8bot PCB Robot looks like a great way to explore the world of robotics without breaking the bank or getting lost in the details.

Nick Bild
R&D, creativity, and building the next big thing you never knew you wanted are my specialties.
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