Review of the ROBOTIS-MINI ,UPDATED (08/27/2017)

I can’t say enough about this kit! No other humanoid robot can beat its price and performance! I have owned and used this robot for over 3 years now and everyone who sees it falls in love with it. This robot has won me many awards over that last 3 years at Maker Faires as best of show/faire (4 times) and at Robogames for events like robot freestyle (silver and bronze medal winner) and soccer (gold and silver medal winner). What everyone loves the most about this robot is its dance moves as it is a great dancer! It comes with everything you need to build it with including a screwdriver and to program it with. This is also a great kit to start with and as a learning tool before you move on to Robotis’ more advanced humanoid robots like the Bioloid Premium humanoid or ROBOTIS-OP 2. If you are new to robotics or humanoid robots this is a great kit to start with.

Interesting side note about the XL-320 servos used by this kit. They have very similar power and torque to the first Kondo servos used around 2001 to build the first humanoid hobby robots in Japan. But for a quarter of the price! 

XL-320 Specifications 

Description	Specification
Weight	16.7 g
Dimension	24mm x 36mm x 27mm
Gear Ratio	238 : 1
Operation Voltage (V)	7.4
Stall Torque (N.m)	0.39
No Load Speed (RPM)	114
Motor	Cored Motor
Minimum Control Angle	About 0.29° x 1,024
Operating Range	Actuator Mode : 300° Wheel Mode : Endless turn
Operating Voltage	6~8.4V (Recommended voltage : 7.4V)
Operating Temperature	-5° ~ 70°
Command Signal	Digital Packet
Protocol	Half duplex Asynchronous Serial Communication (8bit,1stop,No Parity)
Link (physical)	TTL Level Multi Drop (daisy chain type connector)
ID	253 ID (0~252)
Baud Rate	7843bps ~ 1Mbps
Feedback Functions	Position, Temperature, Load, Input Voltage, etc.
Material	Case : Engineering Plastic Gear : Engineering Plastic

The servo control board for the robot is the OPENCM. Think of the OPENCM as Arduino  clone  with servo plug-ins for the XL-320 servo.

OPENCM specifications.

Description	Specification
CPU	STM32F103CB (ARM Cortex-M3)
Operating Voltage	5V - 16V (USB 5V, DYNAMIXEL 7~12V)
Recommended Voltages	5V for USB, 7.4V for DYNAMIXEL XL series LB-040 3.7V x 2  (The OpenCM 485 Expansion Board is recommended to control DYNAMIXELs which require over 12V)
External I/O	26
Timers	8
Analog Inputs	10 (12 bit A/D Conversion)
Flash Memory	128 Kbytes
SRAM Memory	20 Kbytes
Clock Speed	72Mhz
USB port	1 (2.0 Full Speed)
CAN	1
USART	3
SPI	2
I2C(TWI)	2
Debug Ports	JTAG & SWD
XL-Type TTL port (3 Pin)	4 (XL Type)
External Sensor port (5 Pins)	4 (Compatible with ROBOTIS Sensors)
Size	27 mm X 66.5 mm
Weight	13g

Extra tip: Build-a-Bear workshop clothes fit this robot if you want to add personality to your robot! See the video below for an example.







Below is my ROBOTIS-MINI un-boxing video.


Robotis-mini climbing stairs during Robogames 2017.



My interview of two high school students talking about programming the Robotis-mini at Robogames 2017.

Where you can buy it: Robotis World. , Robotis US. , Amazon Price is 499.99 US.