St. Louis, MO -- (ReleaseWire) -- 02/22/2017 --The thrill of building a functioning robot is something that is truly unique. The culmination of hard work, excellent design, and internal intelligence can go a long way creating a robot that is breathtaking. However, building a robot that is elegant is often tiring, difficult, and monotonous. Here to make the entire process of designing and creating robots less of a structural hassle and more of a medium of expression and creative enjoyment is a compact control board: the Robot Core.

The Robot Core is produced by Second Robotics and serves as an essential connecting piece between the often numerous motors and sensors of a robot and the main controller. Additionally, the Robot Core is designed to be compatible with the Arduino open source platform as well as Raspberry Pi systems. This compatibility allows both veteran and novice robotics engineers a whole world of customization. Thanks to the sheer density of the Robot Core circuit board, a number of extraneous boards, which would normally be used to control individual actuators, are no longer needed. As a result, engineers are able to save valuable time and space when designing their next creations.

As for the technical specifications of the board, the hand-sized circuit board is able to handle two motors, eight servos, two Dynamixel servos*, and access eight 12-bit analog inputs. Additionally, a powerful 6 Amp DC to DC converter is attached to the board, allowing the board the ability to power a Raspberry Pi or Arduinos. As a side benefit, every part of the Robot Core control board is clearly labeled, enabling any onlooker, whether an amateur or veteran, to quickly understand the setup.

Apart from the hardware of the Robot Core control board, the Second Robotics team spend considerable time and effort crafting the software libraries and GUI examples to go alongside the board itself. With a focus on ease-of-use, the software (Python programming language) is sure to be user-friendly enough for anyone to pick up, but the nature of Raspberry Pi and open source Arduino platforms allows enough customizability for experts to do their tinkering.

To bring down the price of the Robot Core control board through pre-order and mass production, the Second Robotics team has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Those who back the campaign will be rewarded with anything from a first-edition tested board to a custom-made robot created by the Second Robotics team, of course featuring the Robot Core control board. With the help of readers, the Second Robotics team aims to make the world of robotics more accessible and more efficient.

To learn more visit the Kickstarter campaign page.

* Dynamixel smart servo's are daisy chain-able meaning that there can be 10 or more smart actuators on a single port (two ports available.) This allows you to build powerful multi-joint bipeds, humanoids, hexapod walkers, and strong robot arms.