Petoi Bittle is a small but agile and powerful bionic robot dog. It is an ideal tool for learning, teaching, and researching quadruped robots. With a customized Arduino board coordinating all instinctive and sophisticated movements, you can clip on various sensors to bring in perception. 2-minute overview 1+ hour interview with the Creator of Bittle You can also inject Artificial Intelligence capabilities by mounting a Raspberry Pi or other AI chips, such as: Bittle Sensor Pack MU Vision sensor 3 - AI Vision Camera Rich extensions Bittle's main board NyBoard V1 is a custom Arduino board with 4Pin connectors on the board. You can configure various Grove modules for Bittle to bring a totally new perception to Bittle. https://bittle.petoi.com/extensible-modules Bittle + MU Vision Sensor 3 - AI Vision Camera We are showing how the intelligent camera module is attached to Bittle's head and a demo of object tracking. The module can achieve many more functionalities if you look into its user manual at https://www.etchkshop.com/collections/ai/products/mu-vision-sensor-3. Ball tracking code https://github.com/PetoiCamp/BallTracking if you use MU Vision 3, instead of the OEM version by Bittle, and programme it using codecraft, please read this document https://www.petoi.com/forum/hardware/mu-vision-sensor-connector Make Bittle listen to you Code and Learn Online Guide Check here https://www.yuque.com/tinkergen-help-en/bittle Supporting Software and Programming Environment: Please check here https://bittle.petoi.com/3rd-party-application-and-software Coding can be done in C-style language with the Arduino IDE Python API for sending serial commands Bittle can be progamme with a Scratch-like web-based IDE Codecraft and curriculum Codecraft graphical programming course (16 lessons) Our professional team of STEM educators has developed a graphical programming course for Bittle. It makes getting started programming for Bittle easy and accessible for everyone.The course assumes basicfamiliarity with graphical programming. If you are a complete beginner, you can start with Codecraft Introduction to Graphical programming course first! https://www.yuque.com/tinkergen-help-en/bittle_course Features Unique bionic system：The unique bionic system can perform dynamic movement and has excellent coordination.The bionic structure of the legs gives it more freedom in unstructured terrain.This dynamic mobility can only be seen in some of the best laboratories or some luxury robots of big companies, such as Boston Dynamics Spot or Sony Aibo. Compatible with multiple programming methods: Bittle can be programmed at different levels in various programming environments including Arduino IDE for C language and Codecraft for graphical programming. Developers and STEM educators can also review and modify Bittle C code, which is completely open source. Customized Arduino board: Bittle is driven by NyBoard V1, a customized Arduino board with rich peripherals (Atmega328P chip). It fully utilizes the chip of a regular Arduino Uno to coordinate sophisticated motions. The board can drive at least 12 PWM servos, and an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) is used for balancing. Rich extensions: Raspberry Pi or other artificial intelligence chips can be installed to make Bittle have stronger artificial intelligence capabilities; 4 grove interfaces can be connected with external sensors, such as ultrasonic sensors and infrared sensors (it can be held in the mouth, very cute) Easy to operate: Bittle has been pre-programmed to be usable out of the box, with a 3D interlocking structure for the body and legs, reducing the use of screws. Rich curriculum resources: Bittle has a wealth of course resources, 16 exclusive graphical programming courses, with expansion packs. https://www.yuque.com/tinkergen-help-en/bittle_course Strong protection: High-strength injection molded plastic provides the best protection against collisions and dust (not waterproof!). In the stress test, the assembled robot can withstand the footsteps of adults without damaging any components. Innovative 3D interlocking parts Bittle skeleton consist of 3D interlocking parts, which reduces the use of screws and makes it simple and beautiful. Each component has gone through dozens of iterations of 3D printing. And we use high-strength injection molded parts to provide the best protection to prevent collisions and dust from entering (Bittle is not waterproof however). In the pressure test, the assembled robot can withstand adult stepping on it. You can learn more through the following gif. Compatible with variety of programming languages Bittle supports graphical programming, C and Python. Whether you are a beginner or a senior engineer, you can give Bittle "life" in your own way. You can learn about the actions that Bittle can complete after programming it through the following gif. *To use Python, external components are needed, not included in the basic kit. Compatible with Raspberry Pi/ESP32 Bittle's main board NyBoard V1 is a custom Arduino board. The onboard 2x5 socket is used to connect the Raspberry Pi or other AI chips to bring intelligence into Bittle. Hardware All robots, and our Bionic robot dog in particular, are complex electromechanical systems, comprised of multiple different components working all together. Just by looking at it, it’s hard to say how it can perform advanced movement functions. In this lesson we’re going to have an in-depth look at the modules that Bittle is made of and how they’re all interconnected. Main components Here are the main components you can see when you look at Bittle:- servos in every joint, that needs to be moved, namely shoulder and hip joints and head pan joint- battery installed under the belly- mainboard with control chip and some modules under black cover Servos Servos are motors, that can be precisely controlled to be turned to a certain angle. A servo is very similar to electric motor - in fact it IS an electric motor with a controller chip, a potentiometer and gears for reducing speed all packed inside of plastic casing. Potentiometer can be used to measure the angle of rotation of the shaft - and using control circuit we can move servo shaft to precise degree, unlike with simple DC motor, where we can only control the direction and speed. All that makes servos uniquely useful in robots applications. Battery The battery used in Bittle is a lithium-ion battery. A lithium-ion battery is a lightweight, high-power battery used in computers and mobile phones. That makes it useful for devices that should be lightweight. Lithium-ion batteries work by the movement of lithium ions through a membrane (thin sheet that allows some substances to pass through). The Main Board After you lift the back cover, you will be able to see the top of the mainboard. The main control chip, ATMega328p is located under the mainboard, so you won’t be able to see it. In the center of the board you can see another chip, PCA9685, which is used for controlling the servos. You can think of main control chip as the brain and servo driver chip as a spinal cord in mammals, responsible for motor coordination. Grove connectors Additionally, on top of the board you can see four Grove connectors: two digital, one analog, and one I2C bus connector. Neopixel RGB LED Finally, you also can see seven LEDs on top of the board.These are Neopixel RGB LEDs, each one of them can be addressed individually and its color can be changed. They are very useful for debugging and just look shiny! Specifications Overview Shock resistant ABS injection-molded plastic Spring-loaded upper legs 20cm x 11cm x 15cm Product weight: 290g Maximum load weight: ~300 g Mainboard NyBoardV1_1 ATmega328P Chip frequency 16 MHz Memory 2KB SRAM, 32KB flash, 1KB Internal EEPROM + 8KB I2C EEPROM 4x Grove interface 1x UART, 1x I2C, 1x SPI Supports plugging in the Raspberry Pi (not provided in the kit), powering the Raspberry Pi, and communicating with the Raspberry Pi through the serial port and I2C. Support plugging in the Bluetooth module (not provided in the kit), and using the mobile APP remote control. What's in the box Bittle Kit Includes everything you need to make the robot dog up and running: In this Pre-assembled kit, we have helped you install Bittle in advance, and burned the default program for Bittle. You just need to open the package, and you can use the remote control to control Bittle immediately. User Forum
