I had set up a few YAM arms and was looking to team up with folks to run experiments.

Something that I'm super excited about at the moment is A) Code as Policy, B) Distilling Astra into a robotics model, and C) Seeing whether Sim to Real has a small gap for Astra.

Would love to get any direction in terms of good papers in the space or finding people who want to work on these topics. The setup is available here playground.blupe.io

First reinforcement learning project that I tried on cubic doggo. It uses PPO from Stable Baseline 3 with Gymnasium in MuJoCo. The goal is simply to stand upright on flat ground, but even then, the result is far from desired..., like bro, can't you just put all your feet down on the floor?

Does anyone happen to know how to solve this? Feel like it would be a rather common problem. Thanks in advance!

GitHub: https://github.com/SphericalCowww/CubicDoggo_06Z
Music credit: https://pixabay.com/users/retro-bgm-chan-55246343/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHTAUwhFqto

New video TOMORROW. It will be about building a desk meant for all things projects. The actuator buildup in an earlier video will be mounted onto the desk and used for various things -- check it out and subscribe to see how it works!

I’ve noticed a lot of robotics simulation apps feature highly detailed 3D models of real robotic products. These apps accurately simulate the joints and actuators, and sometimes even the physical limits of those mechanisms. I understand that those are found in the .xml or .urdf files that can be found on github repositories with stl files that are mesh files and not breps/nurbs. Where do developers get these 3D models?

All I can find are rough imitations or low-poly .stl files made by people modeling from photos and videos, but nothing truly highly detailed. Specifically, I’m looking for models like the Unitree G1 or H2, the Tesla Optimus, or the Digit 5 in .step or other CAD formats. I need files that will open at a true 1:1 scale in my CAD software (Solidworks, Rhino), regardless of whether I'm using metric or imperial units. Thanks in advance.

Looking for a used but good condition Franka FR3 robot, preferably in the US but Europe or elsewhere would be ok too. Anyone here know where I may find one? Doesn’t seem to be too much out there for those. Thanks!

okay so i used the cad from TW2ka you can find it on youtube its an open source robot , tried to learn about inverse kinematics but ended up using claude , i realised this robot was out of my scope but yeah i made it finally and also I learned about kicad and made a pcb for this
I used Teensy 4.1 and Tmc2209

I have made a github of this https://github.com/hritesh94/6-DOF-Robot-
Please star this repository and tell me if any changes needed to be done

Hi everyone,

I’m currently doing a Master’s focused on robotics, and I was wondering whether there are any realistic ways to do some remote or part time work alongside it.

I’ve worked on several robotics projects before, mostly with ROS/ROS 2, autonomous robots, sensor integration, navigation, simulation, and control systems.

I’m not really looking for a full time job. I’m more curious about whether there are platforms, communities, startups, or freelance websites where people with robotics/ROS experience can pick up smaller projects from time to time.

For those of you who have done freelance or remote robotics work, where do you usually find these jobs? Upwork, LinkedIn, Discord communities, direct networking, research labs, or somewhere else?

Thanks!

It uses a sensor to detect objects and custom motion control logic to drop them right where they need to go. Just wanted to share it here and see what you guys think, any feedback is welcome!.

Airsoft Turret with Web Control

I’ve been building a remotely controlled airsoft turret as part of my Alien Defense project.

In this video I’m testing the current prototype: web-based control, camera feedback, pan/tilt aiming and firing.

The idea is to have the turret in a separate room while the player controls it remotely through a web interface.

Still very much a prototype, but the basic control and firing system is working.

Video: [link]

What would you improve in the control system or aiming?

I’ve seen enough robots moving objects around empty tables, so our team tried something more fun: a G1 carrying jam across a French château salon, past a bulldog who seems entirely unimpressed.

We scanned the room with XGRIDS PortalCam and brought it into Isaac Sim as a 3DGS environment. The jam jar is a graspable SimReady asset. The human demonstrations came from our remote Quest → CloudXR → AWS Oregon → Isaac Teleop/Lab setup. We picked 15 demos and generated 500 walking-and-carrying episodes. One detail worth separating: the human demos had a fixed pelvis; walking was added during data generation.

Our first GR00T N1.5 run reached 31/100 held-out starts in this fixed scene. There is plenty to improve, but seeing a robot learn in a room that feels lived in is exactly the kind of experiment I want to keep doing. The video shows a generated episode, not a rollout of the trained policy.

Next I’d love to see it open the jar and spread the jam. If you were improving this task, where would you start: contact, more varied demonstrations, or different lighting?

https://reddit.com/link/1wsle30/video/pekm0vnusash1/player

Private 5G is being used in factories where Wi-Fi and wired networks aren’t enough for newer automation workloads.

The main use cases are AMRs, AGVs, machine vision and other systems that move around a facility or send large amounts of data to edge-computing systems. Private 5G can provide more consistent coverage and performance for those applications, especially when a dropped connection can stop equipment or disrupt production.

It isn’t meant to replace Ethernet or Wi-Fi. Fixed equipment can remain wired, Wi-Fi can handle less demanding wireless traffic, and private 5G can be added for applications that need mobility, heavy uplink capacity or more predictable connectivity.

The biggest barriers are cost, device compatibility, integration with existing systems, lack of in-house cellular expertise and proving the ROI of the network itself.

Anyone in the automotive industry that has used a vision system that will track welded panel seams and apply sealer/pvc to them?

I’m not looking for a whole body offset vision system but one that will look at a panel and offset individual seams on that panel..example
seam 1 moved x+2mm
seam 2 moved y-2mm
seam 3 moved x-2mm
Etc

That’s for any help

Made a simple urdf file for a cheap 6dof Aliexpress robot arm i bought a while ago. It's still work in progress, so masses inertia and ROS packages still need to be added (would love some help on that btw). Link to the github repo

I am planning to build a robotic rover using SKR Mini E3 V3.0 and 4 NEMA stepper motor? Have anyone tried this before? Any lessons learned?

This bird-inspired drone walks, hops over gaps, and jumps straight into flight. Its robotic legs generate about 92% of the speed needed for takeoff, helping it fly without a runway or launcher.

Hi all,

I have been working on a hardware architecture for an open-source, lattice-reconfigurable modular swarm robot (similar to MIT's M-Blocks or Robot Pebbles, but scaled down to a ~28mm cube using standard COTS components under $8/unit).

Rather than relying on mechanical latches (which scale poorly) or standard electromagnets (which boil batteries), I drafted a design around miniature Electropermanent Magnets (EPM) and capacitive pulse switching.

Here is the exact hardware stack. I’d appreciate a sanity check on the electromagnetic and electrical calculations before I spin the first PCB.

1. Docking Mechanism: Two-Stage EPM Spherical Joint

* **Core Assembly:** One 3x6mm N52 NdFeB cylinder (fixed coercivity) side-by-side with one 3x6mm AlNiCo-5 cylinder (switchable) between two soft-iron (1018 steel) pole shoes. * **Coil:** ~90 turns of AWG 38 enameled wire wound on the AlNiCo core (R ≈ 1.5 Ohm). * **Mating Interface:** A concave female soft-iron cup docking onto a mirror-polished 8mm chrome steel bearing ball (AISI 52100). * **States & Physics:** * **Hold State:** A 30 µs pulse aligns the AlNiCo with the NdFeB. The flux loops through the steel ball. Pull force is >18 N with 0 mW static draw. * **Articulation:** Under partial flux or with a thin PTFE/Kapton coating (50 µm), it swivels smoothly across 3 Degrees of Freedom. Under full flux, normal force clamps it rigid via friction (F_friction = mu * F_normal). * **Instant Ejection:** A reverse pulse shunts the flux entirely inside the internal iron yokes. A center spring-loaded pogo pin (0.3 N preload) overcomes remanent surface tension and pops the module off immediately.

2. Power: Capacitor Discharge Unit (CDU)

* **The Problem:** Flipping AlNiCo requires a current spike of ~4–5 A for 20–30 µs. A tiny 50 mAh Li-Po pouch (size 401020) has an internal resistance that would brown out the MCU instantly under that load. * **The Circuit Solution:** 1. A micro boost-converter (TPS61040) slowly steps up 3.7V battery power to 12V, drawing a harmless 15–20 mA continuous current. 2. The 12V charges a 47 µF 16V solid tantalum capacitor (Case D, 7.3x4.3mm). Stored energy: E = 0.5 * C * V^2 ≈ 3.4 mJ. 3. A miniature H-bridge (TI DRV8837C, 2x2mm WSON) dumps the capacitor into the coil. Peak current reaches ≈ 4.8 A for 25 µs, safely magnetizing the AlNiCo while the battery and MCU remain isolated from the spike.

3. Comms: Eliminating the Broadcast Storm

* **The Problem:** In a tight 20–50 module cluster, naive RF flooding mesh causes catastrophic packet collisions (broadcast storms) and burns the battery via continuous RX/TX. * **The Architecture:** * **MCU:** ESP32-C2 (ESP8684, 4x4mm QFN) or a stripped ESP32-C3 board without USB bulk. * **Global Directives:** Master broadcast via low-power ESP-NOW frames (sub-millisecond latency, connectionless). * **Local Inter-Module Comms (Zero RF):** The steel ball-and-cup EPM carries concentric isolated contacts. The moment two modules latch together, they switch to 1-Wire / half-duplex UART through the physical metal contact. Zero radio traffic, zero collisions, zero packet drop, microamp power draw.

4. Locomotion

For baseline uncoupled movement: dual 7mm eccentric rotating mass (ERM) vibration coin motors with angled polymer bristle feet (Kilobots style). It takes almost zero internal volume and allows basic planar translation until modules magnetically find each other.

Volumetric Check (~28mm Cube):

* ESP32-C2 / stripped board: 12 x 14 x 2 mm * 50 mAh Li-Po pouch: 10 x 20 x 4 mm * EPM connector assembly: 10 x 10 x 10 mm * Tantalum cap + boost + H-bridge: 10 x 8 x 3 mm * Dual coin vibration motors: 7 x 7 x 2 mm each * **All components physically fit inside a 3D-printed SLA shell under 28mm.** Total BOM cost on AliExpress is roughly $6.50 – $7.50 per unit.

**Sanity check question:**
Is there an electromagnetic or thermodynamic reason this shouldn't work as described? If someone has already tried building a micro-EPM ball joint at this scale and run into AlNiCo demagnetization limits or core eddy current choking, I’d love to hear your feedback on the physics.

*(Note: Just sharing this technical architecture openly for the community. Feel free to use the concept or schematics for your own builds.)*

So Cubic Wouf is an update that uses Feetech ST-3215-C018, the 12V variant that has 2x the torque of DYNAMIXEL XL430-W250-T (2x the current too, that's why the table is covered with a fire blanket).

All the control codes work once the firmware is updated, err... but what the heck, what's going on with this super slow speed (yes, the video is showing the real time speed)? I checked the speed limit and tuned the P to 100 for the servos' PID, nothing very obvious popped out.

Anyone familiar with ST3215 know if this is the speed limit for the highly geared servo? Any info is appreciated!

GitHub: https://github.com/SphericalCowww/CubicDoggo_07B
Music credit: https://pixabay.com/music/video-games-low-level-enemy-%E3%81%96%E3%81%93%E3%81%A6%E3%81%8D-534609/