The Hobbyist's Best Friend

Dogs did not get their reputation as man’s best friend without good reason. Numerous studies have shown that dog owners feel less lonely, have healthier blood pressure levels, and tend towards an overall better state of psychological well-being than their dogless counterparts. But there is a flip side to that coin as well. If you like to be able to leave your house for a day, not have your furniture destroyed, or would prefer to not hand your retirement savings over to a veterinarian, then you might want to think twice about dog ownership. And have you ever tried to learn robotics from a dog? I have yet to meet a pooch that knows the difference between a servo and a chew toy.

For those that are taking their chances with their blood pressure and have decided against owning a dog, there is another option available from the team over at MangDang. They released the Mini Pupper dog-like robot kit earlier this year, and are currently in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign to produce an upgraded Mini Pupper 2. This open source kit is designed to help anyone build a very capable, and cute, robotic companion. It may fall a bit flat in the best friend department, but it looks to be an ideal platform for learning robotics, with support for even advanced functionalities like artificial intelligence.

The kit comes with all of the parts needed to assemble the quadruped body of the robo pup, as well as upgraded servos that give position feedback information (a “Pro” version is available that also offers torque and velocity feedback) to control the robot’s movements. A Raspberry Pi 4 and an ESP32 microcontroller integrated into the custom circuit board provide more than enough processing power for a typical robotics enthusiast. An inertial measurement unit, microphone, touch sensor, and 240x320 pixel LCD display also come standard. For more advanced creations, the Mini Pupper 2 can optionally be equipped with LIDAR, a 3D camera, and many other sensors.

By incorporating easy-to-use tools like a Raspberry Pi 4 and an Arduino-compatible ESP32 microcontroller, Mini Pupper 2 makes it easy to get ideas off the ground. The team at MangDang suggest that their robot would be useful as an educational tool, and it does seem well suited for such applications. By supporting ROS1 — and by release, ROS2 as well — the robots will grow with their users as they learn more about robotics.

The robot was put through its paces by demonstrating it doing object tracking, keeping steady as surfaces shift their angles, writing with pen on paper, and doing all sorts of fancy footwork. There is plenty of documentation, both written and on video, to bring new users up to speed, whether they are a student or a more advanced hobbyist. Some conveniences like auto-calibration of the servos should also help to make Mini Pupper 2 very beginner friendly.

There is still plenty of time if you want to get in on the Kickstarter campaign, but these robot dogs are not exactly cheap. The entry-level Mini Pupper 2 Basic Kit starts at $429, and if you want to upgrade to the pre-assembled Pro kit with enhanced servos, the price increases to $649. For more advanced builds with LIDAR or other sensors, they would also be separate purchases. But if this is in your price range, the nicely polished Mini Pupper 2 looks like a frustration-free way to get into the world of robotics.