Triceratops Mod

When I first saw Petoi’s Bittle robot and all that could be done to modify it, I knew right then and there I wanted to turn it into a dinosaur. It's been a little over a year now since I got my Bittle and I have to say this modification is a dream come true for me.

Growing up, I always had a love for robots but there were never real robots commercially available. Sure, we have the toys that were remote controlled that had wheels on the bottom of their feet but it just wasn’t the same thing.

Now that we finally live in a time where robots are so much more complex and commercially available. It really was a dream come true to get a Petoi Bittle

The fact that you have the option to build your own Bittle as a kit was a really cool way to encourage creativity like this. When I first saw how open ended the kit was it felt like it was screaming “please modify me.”

When I first saw Bittle I thought it was the perfect baseline quadrilateral robot that I could do anything with. Now I don’t have anything against cats or dogs, I wanna make that clear. I think they are great but dinosaurs are just on another level. Seriously, who doesn't want a actual robot dinosaur?

Modeling the head was a bit tricky; trying to model a hollowed out robotic triceratops skull so that it can fit over a servo is no easy task. Thankfully, I was able to use the dog head that came with the kit as a guide. It helped me double check measurements, and was the perfect design guideline to follow. 

The tail was equally as tricky due to the lack of a rear-end servo to connect to. Thankfully, I was able to utilize the rear-end bar that was within the pelvic area on the body. From there I added a mini hook attachment and 2 prongs that slid inside the rear-end of the body for extra anchoring.  When I first attached the tail and let it walk around I knew an articulated tail might throw the robot off balance so I kept the design as a solid piece and let it act more as a back weight that kept the robot in line as it walked.

There are some movement limitations that come with this mod but the extra weight in the tail and head gives the legs a bit more traction when walking.

Before I leave you I just want to thank the team at Petoi for all the encouragement they gave as I finalized my dinosaur mod. You can find the files for free on Thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6875437