I think it would be a cool project. It's going to be a tight fit without modifications though. There was a thread where I looked into doing this but didn't do it.

Here's a link to a tear down. www.hackinglab.org/icybie/index_icybie.html

Thanks for the replies guys.

When I posted post #1, I was sitting down eating a sandwich thinking about if modding the little fella could be possible. I'm now fine for the day so stuck I-Cybie in the search bar and found a few results.

So from what I can gather, nobody has successfully done an I-Cybie and EZ-B mod, and it looks like the best way to do it would be to gut it out completely and replace the legs with servos (my original thought) as I found out that the limbs are infact DC motors with H-bridges.

You know, I'm pretty sure I have another one somewhere and it was gold. Can't remember if it got sold, thrown out, or if it's stuck in another box in the attic. Going to have another look at the weekend as I have more boxes to go through, but if I do still have another one, I may very well gut one out and see what I can do. I have quite a few HD servos, camera, 4 in 1 sensor (for the accelerometer), and some other stuff I might be able to use. Don't know if I would be able to use the existing sensors with the EZ-B, as I can't find any specs for them yet.

Hey, this might turn out to be an interesting project to get stuck in to.

My JD might have to make the ultimate sacrifice, but this just might work. A possible rear (or front) leg configuration...

Just enough room to put two rotation servos in back to back...

and it's a good height...

Not sure how I could fit the original leg covers to the servos though... yet!

Can't wait to see it!

Good luck, can't wait to see what happens. You mentioned that it might have an h-bridge, there are tutorials on using them, I'm waiting on a couple to come in myself for a project.

Nice. This is a good idea. I have an icybie as well. For years I looked into it for hacking. It doesn't actually use servos. Just motors without potentiometers. That saddened me!

Replacing with servos is the best option for sure. Get your dremmel warmed up!

@cparks.

Thanks. I might have to start another post as a project showcase for this, lol

Anyway, wiring up H-Bridges is not a problem for me, and yes, the dog does have a H-Bridge which controls all of the joints DC motors... 16 bridges in total I believe, which are part of the main PCB. To get motor position to make the motors act like servos, I would need to somehow hack the existing encoders, or hack some servos for their PCB's which would be a lot of work, so servos will be the easier option.

Hey DJ.

Yeah, the Dremel is sitting poised and ready. I was looking through some of the older threads a bit earlier with anything with "I-Cybie" in the text, and read your posts. I would say I'm supprised you didn't get around to doing it yourself... but then you have been rather busy.

I agree it is a shame, and surprised me, that it doesn't have servos, as that would have made things far simpler, but hey, your servos should do the job nicely. Do you, or anyone know much about the existing sensors (voltage etc) that are inside the dog, and could they possibly be used with the v4's ADC ports?

I know the feeling.I have a working full size Femisapien I'd like to convert but haven't a good idea of how to start. The only thing I have assessed is that I will need to use mini, or even micro servos. The full size ones just aren't going to cut it.

And so it may be with yours. I think you will have to use smaller servos or try to drive the existing ones. The thing is, these toys are often not really a collection of individual servos but some servo-like motors connected by cables and linkages and springs. All of which tend to pop out when you are exploring it's innards. sick So, mine is in a "someday" collection for now. I think yours may be more doable, however.

The other challenge will be getting the EZB-4 in it. May require a disassembly of the EZB-4 itself to get it apart from it's shell and just a couple of bare boards. Also, it may require wires to be soldered directly to the port pins, or using smaller push-on connectors. When I was thinking about that for my project I thought perhaps I could just attach to the signal pin and run a pair of common power leads directly from the battery to the servo power inputs. That would reduce the wiring considerably.

Just a couple of thoughts. Happy gutting and modding!

@WBS.

This will certainly be a challenging one to do, simply because as you say, size constraints (with room for a battery as well). I think that I will get away with full size servos, maybe a couple of micros for the head pan 'n' tilt, although covering up the leg servos will require some thought. All part of the fun.

I'm going to shoot some video clips of it's walking gait and other movements to give me something to refer back to when setting up the Auto Position control goes it to overdrive.

NOTE:

This thread continues with the following link to the Project Showcase...

EDDIE. The I-Cybie and EZ-Robot Mogrel Robot Dog.