The masterminds over at Diablo-World have created a really cool Raspberry Pi-powered robot that’s too cool for us not to share. It looks awesome, performs well and comes with a hefty price tag of $3,899 (USD), but it’s currently available at the Direct Drive website for $2,899. This robot has two legs, but it doesn’t walk to get around. Rather, it relies on two wheels to both move and make adjustments for self-balancing.
The legs are articulated so the height can be adjusted on demand, with extra modes including standing and crawling. The are benefits to different heights, like the ability to carry heavier cargo loads when using the crawl mode, which can transport up to 176lb (80kg), according to the product page. The unit also comes with a 2.4 GHz wireless controller.
If you want to get a close-up look at this robot in action, your best bet is to check out the demonstration and review shared to YouTube by ETA Prime. There you can see it from unboxing to test drive as he’s had a chance to play with the robot for a couple of weeks—long enough to devise an impression.
The main board driving this robot is a Raspberry Pi 4. It operates a total of six M1502D direct-drive robot joints. It’s mobile thanks to its large-capacity battery, which is mounted alongside the rest of the hardware inside of a custom frame. The housing also features a cargo holding area on top.
The Diablo robot was released with its own open SDK. This makes it easy to add your own custom modules and components that don’t come with the default setup. You can read more about the specs over at the Diablo product page. And if you want to see more cool microelectronics creations, check out our list of best Raspberry Pi projects to see what the Pi community has been up to lately.
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Ash Hill is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.
This is 10,000% awesome! No doubt in my mind this is the first real significant step in useful robotics evolution. Boston Dynamics has had their fun, but this little rascal here puts them to shame. Gotta start saving up so I can get one of these...
