Anticipation for Pupper v3 Release and Request for Updates

[SlimeVRX]

Dear Stanford Robotics Club,

First of all, thank you for your incredible work and dedication to the Pupper project. Your efforts have been truly inspiring, and I have been following the development of this robotic dog with great interest.

I am particularly excited about the upcoming release of Pupper v3!
The new specifications, including:

• The GIM4305 brushless motors
• Raspberry Pi 5
• The reinforcement learning locomotion policy
• The addition of the Luxonis SR depth camera
• The LCD screen for debugging and facial expressions is also a great touch.
• Roughly $1000 BOM

As someone who is eagerly looking forward to this release, I would greatly appreciate any updates or information you could provide about the progress of Pupper v3. It would be wonderful to stay informed as you move closer to the release.

Best regards,

Tin Nguyen

[SlimeVRX]

Hi @Nate711, Please update the plan!

[SlimeVRX]

Hi @Nate711
Please update!

[SlimeVRX]

Hi, I apologize for the bother, but could you please let me know the earliest possible time when the Pupper v3 will be open-sourced?

[twodawg]

I am also excited for the release. The BOM is slowly getting some new items listed. A magnet and an AI RB hat have been added, check it out! I am curious how we will be able to order the motor and controller for such a cheap price.

[SlimeVRX]

I found information about Drivers controller:

• Custom 200W FOC motor drivers
• Based on MIT Cheetah motor drivers
• Features TI DRV8316 integrated gate driver and FETs. 8A, 40V rated.

I have contacted Steadywin to purchase GIM4305 motors, but Steadywin does not provide the drivers controller.
Could you provide me with more information about the drivers controller and where I can order them?

[Nate711]

@SlimeVRX Sorry for not replying earlier. Pupper v3 works with the regular Steadywin 4305 motors as well. We haven't finished polishing the custom drivers yet. Once we test the new control board with the AI hat for rpi I'll put the custom pcb manufacturing data online

I think by Jan 2025 the robot will be ready for the public.

You could start trying to build it now if you really want, you'll just run into some headaches along the way

[dougbot01]

Was anyone able to locate the STL files to print?
Thank you!

[SlimeVRX]

Looking forward to the project release soon!

[dougbot01]

Hi,

I’m sure you’re hard at work on this, but wondering if there is any way to start building, or if others like myself can support your efforts in any way? I’ve noticed the monorepo but can’t do much without the STL files to print or the fully spec’d out electronics. If there is any way I can help please let me know. I think GitHub will do DM.

[SlimeVRX]

Hi @Nate711 ,

I've noticed you've made a lot of updates to the Pupper v3 project. I'm really excited about it and was wondering if you have an estimated release date for the project.

I found information about Drivers controller:

• Custom 200W FOC motor drivers
• Based on MIT Cheetah motor drivers
• Features TI DRV8316 integrated gate driver and FETs. 8A, 40V rated.

I have contacted Steadywin to purchase GIM4305 motors, but Steadywin does not provide the drivers controller. Could you provide me with more information about the drivers controller and where I can order them?

@SlimeVRX Sorry for not replying earlier. Pupper v3 works with the regular Steadywin 4305 motors as well. We haven't finished polishing the custom drivers yet. Once we test the new control board with the AI hat for rpi I'll put the custom pcb manufacturing data online

I think by Jan 2025 the robot will be ready for the public.

You could start trying to build it now if you really want, you'll just run into some headaches along the way

Additionally, I'm looking for more information about the driver controllers. In the latest Pupper v3.5 BOM Sheet, I noticed that the Steadywin GIM4305 with driver (12 units) costs $1,500, and its percentage in the BOM has increased significantly compared to previous versions. This substantial cost increase might make it more difficult for a wider audience to access and experiment with this research. Could you provide some insights into this change and whether there are any alternative driver options?

Thanks for your hard work on this project! Looking forward to your response.

[Nate711]

@SlimeVRX Hi, we wanted to use our custom motor drivers which would make the actuator price about $80/piece but we haven't had the bandwidth to test and incorporate those into the mainline design. So for now you have to use the standard GIM4305-10 from steadywin with the SHS drivers. I'm hoping to negotiate down the price (right now $125/piece) since their volume will increase but TBD.

[SlimeVRX]

Thanks so much for the information you shared, keep up the good work on this project. I look forward to it!