Spring is already rearing its head for makers in the northern hemisphere and their soldering irons are ready to go. Today’s project comes to us from a developer named Kevin McAleer who is using a Raspberry Pi RP2040 powered board, Servo 2040, to power this custom rabbit-shaped robot known as Bugs the Robo-Bunny.
McAleer is no stranger to homemade microelectronics projects, in fact, he has a whole website and channel dedicated to showing off his builds, how to make them, and where to find more makers like him in the community. He builds everything from scratch when possible, using Fusion 360 for digital designs and a 3D printer to bring those designs to fruition for his projects.
According to McAleer, Bugs the Robo-Bunny relies on many components used to create a previous robotic pal called PicoCat version 2 which was based on another robotic cat named OpenCat. Today’s project, the Robo-Bunny, is built around the RP2040 microprocessor found inside Pimoroni’s new Servo 2040 board.
It doesn’t take too much processing power to locomote McAleer’s creations. Something like a Raspberry Pi 4 or even a Pi Zero would be overkill as these robots don’t need a full-blown OS but rather just reliable servo control. That’s where the Servo 2040 comes in—it provides the processing reliability of the RP2040 along with the support for up to 18 individual servos. These servos can be worked into a number of joints on limbs making the Servo 2040 an ideal controller for Robo-Bunny and his robo-family.
The code for Bugs the Robo-Bunny is totally open-source along with several of his previous projects. If you want to get a closer look at how it goes together and operates, check out the Robo-Bunny page on McAleer’s GitHub and dig into the source code. In this case, Bugs relies on a custom script written in MicroPython.
Makers are invited to explore McAleer’s tutorials for instructions on how to make these clever robots at home. He has steps, videos, and source code available for a variety of Raspberry Pi projects and additional project details on his website, kevsrobots.com. If robotic companions pique your interest, be sure to follow him at YouTube for more creations and mind-blowing animatronic wonders.
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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.
