
Arduino OpenCat - sharemywin
https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/petoi/opencat-845129
======
skykooler
Seems odd to call it "OpenCat" but refuse to share STL files for the
3d-printed parts or source code for the project.

~~~
ocdtrekkie
I definitely noticed that irony. I think he'd probably get just as many
customers even if he open sources it, just because a lot of people like me
don't really have the time or expertise to assemble this.

~~~
ansgri
Sure: I'd like to purchase three versions of it _simultaneously_ to learn how
it works: fully assembled, as a kit, and in a source form. That way I guess
debugging it would be much easier, and should the two get assembled
successfully, they'd make great gifts!

~~~
jpindar
Making two of them interact with each other would be fun.

------
mschuster91
What I always wonder when seeing animal-like robots: they don't have a tail,
which however seems to be pretty important for animals to keep balance... how
do robots (or de-tailed animals) compensate for the lack of a tail?

~~~
djrogers
I think a lot of the compensation comes from slower speed and lower-complexity
movements. It's absolutely the case that a cheetah uses it's tail when making
turns at high velocity, but it's also true that a robot can ovoid the need for
a tail by turning slowly and not having any lateral g-forces to contend with.

Off topic, but this has always astounded me - the cheetah's tail was the
inspiration Kobe Bryant used for fixing his form on his fade-away jumper; one
of his legs is always stuck out in a seemingly awkward manner but he's using
it to balance his body as he falls away from the basket.

------
BatFastard
Excellent work. I have been using the Arduino for some projects. Other than a
horrible development environment it is very fun to play with. Been trying to
get it to work with CLion, but after a good twenty hours of work there are
still uglinesses.

~~~
forkandwait
I suggest you try programming the AVR chips directly. I use Atmel studio to
compile, notepad++ to edit , and the following to burn a chip:

[https://www.amazon.com/High-speed-TL866CS-Universal-
Programm...](https://www.amazon.com/High-speed-TL866CS-Universal-Programmer-
Programming/dp/B00AWJ7SA4)

Tutorial :

[http://www.avrfreaks.net/forum/programmer-minipro-
tl866-howt...](http://www.avrfreaks.net/forum/programmer-minipro-tl866-howto)

~~~
krutzger
You can use avr-gcc, no need for a heavy ide.

~~~
StavrosK
I heartily recommend PlatformIO. It makes hardware programming much, much
easier by handling dependencies, compilation, etc.

~~~
LeifCarrotson
"Handling" dependencies automatically is _fantastic_ when it works. But it
reaches varying degrees of anarchy and hopelessness when it doesn't.

The more ambitious the framework, the more you have to wade through to figure
out what it's actually doing when something breaks...I'd much rather have to
deal with some cross-compilation headaches and dependencies than to be at a
dead end when the 'black magic' stops working.

~~~
krutzger
Or, I assume, when the company behind the service goes out of business or
shifts focus...

~~~
BatFastard
That is a risk when you use any service, even if it is open source.

------
sharemywin
hope this guy does some kind of kickstarter with the parts. I would buy one in
a heartbeat.

~~~
sharemywin
I would really like to see how the leg assembly works.

the joint reminds me of troody a little.

[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/walking-the-
dinos...](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/walking-the-dinosaur/)

------
kgarten
cool work. Has anybody similar project references for opensource work on
animal walking?

------
cyrux004
very cool

