Upkie

Open-source wheeled biped robot with wheels for balance and legs for uneven terrain, controllable in simulation and on hardware.

This repository contains executable files that Robotheca doesn't check. Only run them if you trust the creator.

Which files (14 files marked executable, 1 script)

This repository has no photo of the robot yet.

What it can do

Written by Robotheca from the project's documents.

Balances as a wheeled inverted pendulum using wheels, and walks or locomotes with its legs for uneven terrain.
Can be steered with a gamepad joystick, with an emergency stop button.
Supports Python and C++ development, with behaviors deployed to the onboard Raspberry Pi.
Runs the same Gymnasium environment code in simulation (PyBullet) and on the real robot (Spine).
Includes example behaviors such as lying genuflection, model predictive control balancing, and PD wheel-velocity balancing.

This repository has no parts list Robotheca can read yet.

The guide appears here as you scroll.

Guide by @upkie (README.md), under Apache-2.0.

Notes written by Robotheca from the project's documents.

Raspberry Pi as the onboard computer.
Pi3hat board mounted on the Raspberry Pi to drive the actuators over CAN.
Mjbots moteus brushless servos (mj5208) driving the wheels.
Qdd100 actuators for the hip and knee joints.
Power distribution board feeding the actuators.
Battery connected through an XT90-S connector, with XT30 cables inside the robot.
IMU mounted on the head plate.

The left hip qdd100 connects by CAN to the pi3hat JC1 port using a comms cable.
The right hip qdd100 connects by CAN to the pi3hat JC3 port using a comms cable.
Each qdd100 is powered from the power distribution board using a torso power cable.
Leg comms and power cables run inside cable sleeves through the tibia and femur to the wheel motor and knee motor.

Incomplete documentation

How complete the published files are for rebuilding this robot, measured by Robotheca at commit ffa9e4d. It isn't a rating of the robot.

3D and CAD files10/20
1 printable part (STL, 3MF).
Add the CAD source (STEP, or the CAD program's own files) so people can change the design.
Robot description0/15
No URDF.
Add a URDF: the robot can then be seen in 3D and tried in the browser.
Parts list0/20
No parts list in the repository or linked.
Most points to gain: Link to your parts list, or add it to the repository (a CSV or a Markdown table) with quantities, prices and where to buy each part.
Software10/15
Code in this repository, instructions to install or run it.
Say which software framework it uses (ROS 2, LeRobot, Arduino…).
Documentation10/15
README of 4,044 characters with 1 picture; 0 build steps.
Split the build into at least 3 steps.
Simulation0/5
No simulation files.
Add a simulation model (MuJoCo, Gazebo, Webots or Isaac).
Licenses10/10
Hardware: Apache-2.0; software: Apache-2.0.

Written by Robotheca from the project's documents.

Clone the upkie repository on your computer and run make upload to send the software to the robot.
Log into the Raspberry Pi over SSH.
Run a soft rezero with ./tools/upkie_tool rezero from the upkie directory on the Pi.
Start the pi3hat spine with make run_pi3hat_spine.
In a separate terminal, run pixi run real-follow-joystick to start the joystick controller.
For simulation instead, run pixi run example-follow-joystick or uv run examples/follow_joystick.py.

Robotheca doesn't review code. Read it before running it.

Every file of the project: code, CAD, electronics, guides, at commit ffa9e4d.

Questions and improvements go to the creator's repository.