The Eponymous Dronebot 2

Sorry @tfmccarthy I didn't take note of the forum to which you posted!

Is there a policy regarding :"kit bashing"? By "kit bashing" i mean replicating behavior or form of commercial product, using components from such a product.

There have been others who have posted their efforts to fix up and/or modify toy robots.

Another is I have one of those inexpensive Nao knockoff robots that moves on gears and rollers, has RC, sound, lights, and a recharge circuit. I have no idea about the processor, etc. but I'd like to try to use the body enclosure and try to upgrade the internals using servos and a programmable micro controller, etc. Is that something I should keep to myself?

That would be interesting to me.

The robot looks expensive and complex and yet you say it is inexpensive. It also looks rather complete what would you add? Do you mean replace everything inside , the electronics and software?

I had thought about buying some servo motors and building this type of thing.

@robotbuilder 

The robot looks expensive and complex and yet you say it is inexpensive.

Fairly inexpensive: Here's one. 

Humorous tale about this. I've watched the Nao robot for a few years and wanted one but the price tag was seriously prohibitive. When I retired and wanted to get back into hardware and explore robotics I did a search for humanoid robots and came across an ad for one of these guys. The ad had a video that showed the robot in action, and it looked exactly like the Nao. "Wow!", I said, "They've really advanced things and now you can get a Nao clone for like $50!" I was so excited I bought one on the spot.

I didn't do my homework.

This is not a Nao clone. This is a kid's toy. A "dancing bear" robot.

Sad face. Disturbance in the Tim-o-sphere. Annoyance. Anger.

But I learned my lesson. And it only cost me $50. Now you get it for $35, which is close to the cost of the components. (Yes, I took it apart to see what's inside.)

Now I want to replicate and upgrade it. And that inspiration is itself is worth $50.

It also looks rather complete what would you add? Do you mean replace everything inside , the electronics and software? 

It uses 2 DC motors for the wheels plus plastic gears. an IR for remote, sonar for gesture, some sort of audio player to a simple speaker, and LED, and a LiPo battery with a recharge circuit. The arms are non-functional but posable; the hands are a simple clip. The head is fixed. I suspect the chip is an Arduino close but it has no markings. Same for other components. No spec sheet (chuckle).

I really want to learn the recharge circuit. I want to replace/upgrade everything else. I want to wrap the whole thing in a Dronebot skin enclosure.

The bot you reference is another example of this type of replication of commercial product.

@tfmccarthy 

While looking for some toys at Target (Australia) for the grandkids I did see a robot that looked like the one you reference I am not sure if it is the same thing. I will check and find out.

I suspect the chip is an Arduino clone.

It may use a microcontroller chip. The Arduino is a development board with all the hardware and software to program and use the microcontroller. The microcontroller can stand alone in a product with just the hardware required for that project.