Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
How I Printed a
Humanoid
19
W
RITTEN
BY
M
ICHAEL
O
VERSTREET
In recent years I've experimented with 3D
printing the structural brackets for my hu-
manoid robot Boomer (
Figure 19-1
). Boomer
and I compete at RoboGames and show off
at Maker Faires, and people always ask me:
Why 3D printing? Why not just make the
brackets out of metal like everyone else?
breaking it was, I wanted one. But how could
I afford it? A new DARwIn-OP from Robotis
costs $12,000.
Humanoid Evolution
The DARwIn-OP (Dynamic Anthropomorphic
Robot with Intelligence—Open Platform) is a
state-of-the-art research and development
humanoid robot created by Virginia Tech's Ro-
botics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa),
led by Dr. Dennis Hong, in collaboration with
the University of Pennsylvania, Purdue Univer-
sity, and the South Korean company Robotis,
with support from the National Science Foun-
dation.
Weighing in at just 2.9 kg and standing 45.5 cm
tall, the DARwIn-OP won the gold medal in the
autonomous RoboCup Soccer Humanoid Lea-
gue, Kid Size class, in both 2011 and 2012.
Figure 19-1.
Michael and Boomer
That's how this project got started. My mis-
sion was to print as much of the robot as
possible using a DIY 3D printer costing
$2,000 or less. DARwIn-OP is an open hard-
ware and software project, so all of the 3D
files and plans are free online. I bought 20
Dynamixel MX-28T servos and the complete
electronics kit from Robotis.
I started to do it just because I could. The ad-
vent of cheap DIY 3D printers has given mak-
ers a new way to manufacture and customize
objects, and I was simply exploring this new
process. As I printed more parts for my robot,
I realized that it could be done—and done
cheaply.
Then I saw the DARwIn-OP at the 2010
International Conference on Humanoid Ro-
bots. After seeing how capable and ground-
