Buying guides

The Annin AR4 is the best all-round DIY six axis kit: machined aluminum links, closed-loop geared steppers and a mature control program, at

For most beginners, Donkey Car is the best first mobile robot: a hobby RC car with a Raspberry Pi and camera that learns to drive from your

If you want a robot that moves and learns, build the SO-101 arm: about $230 to $330 for a leader and follower pair, a large community, and i

For imitation learning with LeRobot or ALOHA-style setups, a plain USB webcam is the right default: the Logitech C922 is what ALOHA and Mobi

For most hobby and learning arms, the Feetech STS3215 is the best value: about $20 for a 12-bit magnetic encoder, bus wiring and real torque

Match the driver to your motors' rated current and to the arm you are copying: the AR4 uses StepperOnline DM332T and DM320T boxed drivers, P

The SO-101 is the cheapest capable arm to build: a leader and follower pair costs about $230 to $330 in parts, and a follower alone is rough

The cheapest walking humanoid you can build is Open Duck Mini, a 42 cm printed biped on 14 STS3215 servos for roughly $360 to $470. For a li

For a first robot dog, Petoi Bittle X is the easiest: a $319 construction kit that needs no printer and walks out of the box. Mini Pupper 2

Pick the Raspberry Pi 5 if the robot only needs to run motors, cameras and networking while a laptop or desktop GPU runs the learned policy,

The Feetech STS3215 is the stronger and cheaper servo: 19.5 kg.cm stall at 7.4V (30 kg.cm for the 12V version) for about $20, against 0.52 N

For any joint that holds up a load (a follower arm, a leg, a mobile base arm), buy the 1/345 version: C001 for 7.4V or the 12V 30 kg.cm vers