Introduction: Sunfounder Quadruped Robot

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About: In my spare time, I fly RC airplanes and enjoy sharing my passion for learning how things work through my own instructional videos.

I found out about Sunfounder Quadruped on one Julian Llett youtube channel about 2 months ago. After doing lot of research, I finally bought this bot for me as a birthday gift ( spoil myself here ). When I ordered the Quadruped, the company's website has a special deal for the bot ,free shipping DHL.

The impressive thing was the customer service and the shipping time. They have one of the best customer service I ever had and I have been ordering electronic , robotic parts for years from a variety of popular robot's components website like www.robotshop.com, www.adafruit.com , www.pololus.com , www.lynxmotion.com, etc. I will explain more about the customer service as I walk you through the build process. The shipping time was exceptional fast >"<, I am talking about two day shipping here people. I order the kit on the website Tuesday and I got the kit on Friday right before the Labor day long weekend. My plan was building the kit , writing some code for the Quadruped, publishing on Instructables, and it is only doable if the kit would arrive on Friday. And It did! So here you have it. Enjoy reading.

*****************IMPORTANT UPDATE 10 / 06 / 2015 *****************

Hi Makers, as the viewer approaching 1K and I know it is not that much to bragging about. However to me, this is a remarkable benchmark. Therefor, if you are owning one of the Sunfounder scrawling bot and interesting about the Trigabot 3D Makeover Amor send me your email with picture of you and you bot, I will select a lucky Maker. The winner will receive a complete 3D printed Trigabot's Armor.

To find out more about Trigabot 3D Printed Armor click here.

*****************UPDATE 10 / 28/ 2015 *****************

All STL file for Trigabot

Step 1: Open Box : ) !!!!!!!

Components was packed tight and needs very space effective.

Step 2: Electronic Compoments.

12 beautiful analog servos. Here is some spec:

  • Voltage : 4.8 ~ 6.0 V .
  • Torque : 1.5/1.8kg.cm .
  • Speed : 0.12/0.10s/60degree .
  • Weight : 8.5g .
  • Dimensions: 23x11.5x24mm

Tip: LOL, If you like me I like to keep the boxes of everything then take some time to unfold all the servo's boxes then you can store it more affective.

Step 3: Acrylic Compoments.

These parts are laser cut so some of them fall out as soon as you unwrap and pick up the template. So make sure you have a nice fair, clear working area in case of any part got lost.

Kool Tip: I using a dollar store sand paper and sand down the corner of these laser cut acrylic parts, give me some room for my n. Some maker recommends using something pointy, however you will risk scratching the part more importantly stabbing your finger. So your choice makers . :D

Step 4: Nuts and Bolts .

Step 5: Let's Build the Remote Controll.

One of the downfall of the servo control board and joystick board is the power source does not mark positive and negative. So please read the direction from the manual clearly before plug in any electronic. Maybe SunFounder try to save some space on the board, however this could be a drawback for educational organizations.

Step 6: Make Sure You Clean Out Individual Whole With a Needle! Very Important That You Dont Stress Your Tiny Srews.

During the time of research, I stumble by Shane Celise Youtube series is called mockup Monday and the Sunfounder Quadruped robot review gave me a great insight of the bot. You can click here to see his review video, definitely recommended. I had learned a couple problem that Shane had to face, for instance, he accidently applied too much stress on the screw head and the screw's head broke off. I find out that the reason why because Shane didn't clean the tiny hole completely. I totally understand why, if you take a really close look at these wholes. They were cut by laser at extreme heat, so the center of the circle still there and could cause extreme stress to the screws.
Kool Tip: Now is time to take out that needle. First try to poke through these holes, the tiny acrylic core should fall right off. If you found once that impossible to go through don't be discourage, move on to the easy one, I got the trick for you. For the stubborn once you can work your way down slowly by picking the really edge of the circle. If you hear a cracking sound don't sweat, the core just brakes off from the wall slowly. Make sure you relax because there are a lot of tiny holes. I recommended you go through them all before you start your build to help your build consistency.

Step 7: Quad Build Start Here

Step 8: Now Just Enjoy the Build.

Step 9: Install Servos in to Quadruped's Legs .

Step 10: Build Up the Shoulder Compoment.

Step 11: Elbow Compoments.

Step 12: Connect Quadrupeds's Elbows and Shoulders Together.

Step 13: Installing Electronic and Power Up. >"<

Step 14: Calibration and Connect to Controller. and Here When I Faced My First Issue.

The SF Nano board's USB port on the controller was malfunctioning and did not want to connect to my laptop. I the contact SF customer service and I have to give my compliment to Robert. He answered the issue very quickly. After couple email on different way to test the SF Nano board, we then came to a conclusion that the board was just defective so the company will send me a new SF Nano board in 2 days ( which is on Labor day).

I got the mail delivery to my front door and all I can say is WOW Sunfounder . Thumb Up .

Step 15: Conclusion.

Bottom line, the kit was a fun build. Build time around 3 to 4 hour, definitely take your time to not over stress the screws. Some minor issues as I mention through out the build .The electronic components and hardware are good quality definitely recommend this to a engineer friend. Over all the kit was a great weekend project and its application is endless. The kit will fit beginner Arduino ( like me >"<) to a professional programmer because there are hundred of source online about Arduino Quadruped Robot.

SunFounder company website click here.

Video of Sunfounder quadruped robot demo .

Thank you for reading. Happy Labor Day Weekend friends and family.

Step 16: To Be Continute...

I decided on personalize my Quad before I names it. Thank to SunFounder shipping exceptional time, I have some extra time to design the cover for my Qad and 3D printed it. And here you have it ladies and gentleman, I introduce you Trigabot. It will be more to come. Please leave some comment on what do you think on my review ?

Thank for reading. Enjoy Making.