Artamus, the Rambo Knight Autobot Robot Hack #1 Soft Hack Includes a Hack of the RC Controller only. Requires no modifications to actual robot, allows grandkids (if they want) to add EZ Robot control for movement, VR, and voice synthesis. EZB and hardware can sit on table, not required to be on robot. The 5 volt relay board is an overkill, but I already had it. #2 Intermediate Hack, requires EZB on board robot. This hack allows for movement of the upper wheels and door wings. Not shown in #2/#3 video was the addition of head pan & tilt, and L.E.D. eyes. The two robot batteries, or one, can power this hack. #3 No Regrets, no turning back Hack. It included an H Bridge with more realistic movement ramping up and down, servos on the eyes with blue and red L.E.D.s. Removal of the upper wheels, and building of functional arms with a total of 9 degrees of freedom on each arm. ( this took over 3 months of planning, experimenting/do overs, and building) EZ Robot HDD Servos are awesome, they did not burn up while I was experimenting lifting the large arms. They hold quietly extended at various angles! The total arm wt. each is about 2.5 lbs.(1,134 grams) and they are about 24 inches long. They operate better with a LiPo battery than the 2 SLA 6 volt batteries. The hands are rated at 5 volts, and did not like the 6.5 robot voltage. They operate on a separate pin out board at 5 volts. The Door Wings were moved to the curved sides of the Autobot dashboard, and servos added. After trying Plasma disc behind the mouth, I removed it. I carefully cut the mouth opening, and installed a servo for movement, with blue lighting. The Robot can carry up to 65 lbs. of cargo weight. This has been a very fun robot to hack. Artamus weighs over 40 lbs. Future plans may include a Bosch worm gear motor for waist rotation?
Other robots from Synthiam community
Luis's R2d2 Project Ready To Document
Bhouston's Rubik's Cube Solving Robot
THAT is amazing, steve. Wow!
I bought the same Rambo Knight Robot. Amazing build @SteveS, I love what you did! I don't think I would have considered taking the arms apart that way, had always thought of 3d printing the forearms, but your idea is perfect.
Thank you very much for the detailed breakdown of the project! It looks like your lost the shoulder wheels in the end, too much trouble?
I'm calling mine "SideSwipe" because he looks just like the Autobot SideSwipe from the movies.
Did you hack control the LEDs and onboard Speak too?
It's an amazing toy even unhacked, isn't it?
It looks like your opted out of the extra stickers too, I'm on the fence about those myself.
steve S your a pro man.never saw such big robot.i like it alot.
You were talking to us Artamus, and we were listening! Wicked job!
Thank you D.J., You and every one at EZ Robot make Dreams come true for all D.I.Y. builders.
Justin, That is great news you also have a similar robot. Sideswipe is a great name for it. Maybe we can exchange future hack ideas. I tried powering the headlight and L.E.D.s directly, but only the headlights worked. Maybe the L.E.D.s rely on a PC board with a sequencer? I am out of ports on my EZB, the door wings have a y cable to use only one port. If I can add another EZB, it would allow me to operate lights on command, and add extra features.
Patrick, Thank you for your comments. Yes, it is big, 51 inches tall (1.3 meters), and 27 inches wide(0.69 meters). Artamus, is the name I gave it after purchasing his voice from Cepstral. The name of the robot itself was Rambo Knight.
Chelsea, That was one of his first assignments, thank you.
Very cool Steve.
Where does this robot come from ?. Excellent hack.
I got mine from here: https://www.hammacher.com/Product/84492?promo=search