Introduction to Bioloid and the AX12

The Bioloid kit (by Robotis) exists mostly of brackets, AX12 actuators and a CM5 containing a microprocessor. For years i wanted to dab with it - yet hold it off - i was afraid the distraction might hurt my study or income.

The "comprehensive" Bioloid kit costs roughly €800 and is a bargeon considering you get 18 AX12's usually going for €50 each. Recently i got donated two AX12 with mechanical problems, and borrowed another AX12 + a CM5 to complete an assignment.

Eventually i just want a decent robotics hardware platform to program for. The feedback the AX12 has (temperature, load, torque) combined with the intelligent control it offers (variable compliance, calibration, angle limitations, accelleration and speed) give it some serious punch over the next best thing: regular servo's.

Best thing here is that the AX12 has a family (Dynamixel) so if my software works on the AX12, i can easily scale up to more powerfull actuators by Robotis. I'm waiting for the day my desktop spider transforms to a road-legal contraption or autonomous "Disney" experience.

For more on the AX12 see the crustcrawler.com website, they've have all specs listed conveniently with a nice resources overview.