This is a unbelievable robotic kit. The educational potential is gigantic (Portland
State University owns 10 of the robot heads) and the entertainment value
is 5 star. This robot has been around for years and has been tried, tested and perfected. A
Great gift for the enthusiast or for classroom study!!
The kit Includes:
Vacuum Formed plastic Face and Jaw
Precut wood parts, cut with high accuracy laser cutter
All servo connecting links
Eyeballs with built in red LED (Light Emitting Diode) for that glowing eye robot
look5 servos, servo controller, or batteries. Software and an assembly
instruction manual includedAll of the hardware is includedIn fact
everything you need is included, except the PC
The robot head is controlled by RC servos, five in all. Two move the head up and down, left
and right. Two more servos move the eyes up and down, left and right. The fifth servo moves
the jaw. Joysticks control head and eye motion.
The voice and jaw motion are controlled by a software program on the PC that combines speech
synthesis and real time lip sync generation. You can type in any dialogue, and when you
click the button the robot head speaks and his jaw moves accordingly.
The talking robot head uses custom software. The head moves left/right and up/down, and the
jaw opens/closes. The five servo motors are RC hobby type servos. Control it with radio
control, computer, or embedded microcontroller such as the BASIC Stamp. If you are using a
Mini SSC II servo controller board, there is a space to mount it on the back of Maxwell's
neck.
The servos are powerful, moving the head quickly requires several amps of peak current.
Therefore, high capacity C or D size NiCad rechargeable batteries or a 2A regulated power
supply are necessary to power the head.