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Frequently Asked Questions


Can ROFI walk?

Yes, ROFI can walk autonomously under its own power.  With a fully charged battery ROFI can walk for about one hour.

I have already made a FOBO, can I use its parts to make a ROFI?

While FOBO and ROFI do share parts, we would encourage you to not cannibalize your FOBO to make a ROFI just out of principle.  In general it is better to leave finished works complete, or usually what happens is you perpetually have a pile of half working stuff.  That aside, if you are determined to recycle your FOBO you can salvage about $125 worth of parts out of it.  Here is a list of its parts that can be used in ROFI:

  *  TPro MG996R Servos x 8 (ROFI needs 12 of these, you'll still need 4 more)
   *  LiPo battery (ROFI needs 2 of these, so you'll still need to buy 1 more)
   *  Ultrasonic range finder
   *  radial bearings x 2 (ROFI needs 10 of these, so you'll still need 8 more)

Why does ROFI have both an Android tablet and an Arduino Mega board?

In ROFI the arduino Mega board takes the roll of providing an interface to the hardware and the android device is used as the brains of the robot.  This is different from FOBO where the arduino device was the brains and the hardware interface.  The new configuration for ROFI allows for much larger and more interesting programs (the android tablet has 4GB of storage capacity) and an interactive touch screen interface with the robot.  The archos 28 android tablet was selected because it is really inexpensive, super small, and very light. 

The site says that everything is freely available, but there is a price listed for ROFI ... what gives?

The price listed for ROFI is for the parts that can't be 3D printed (electronics, screws, etc.) which need to be purchased from other venders (not project biped).  Project biped is not affiliated with any of these venders and doesn't make any money from any of these sites.  The venders listed were the ones used to source the original parts for the prototype. 

Why doesn't ROFI use the 3D printed harmonic drives posted on the site?

The harmonic drive posted under the projects page is designed for a much larger robot than ROFI.  The design is still needs to be refined, but hopefully they will be used in a future robot.

What skills do I need to be able to build ROFI?

The goal was to design ROFI and create the instructions such that anyone with a desire to learn about robots could build one.  That means no special skills are required coming into the project.  However several things are handy to have working knowledge of, such as soldering, 3D printing, programming, and electronics. But don't worry if you don't have a these skills, the level of knowledge for each of these is pretty minimal and references are provided in the assembly instructions.

Why is the robot named ROFI?

The prototype is named "ROFI" derived from RObot FIve because it is the fifth prototype from project biped. 

How do I get all of the parts to build ROFI?

The manifest spread sheet contains a list of all of the non-printed parts that need to be purchased to build ROFI along with links to the web sites that I bought them from.  The manifest is arranged by vender to make ordering easier.  If you don't have a 3D printer to make the plastic parts yourself, there are several online services, such as Shapeways, that will print them for you if you upload the model files. Online printing services can be really expensive, upwards of $600, so we would highly recommend instead to get your own 3D printer!

Do you sell a kit that comes with all of the parts for ROFI?

This is under consideration.  If you're interested in a kit send an email to jonathan@projectbiped.com.    

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