A former course platform, with instructions spread across lab handouts.
Pupper v2.1 swaps the hobby servos of the original Stanford Pupper for DJI M2006 brushless gear motors with C610 controllers, driven by a Teensy and a Raspberry Pi. It was documented as the hardware for a Stanford robotics independent-study course, so the build steps are spread across lab handouts that first build a robot arm and then the full dog.
At a glance
| Parts cost | $1,600 (2023) parts list · Sum of the prices listed in the project v2.1 parts list, which is about $1,567. Priced at current retail on 2026-10-02 it comes to about $1,650, with the 12 DJI motors and controllers about 70% of that, and the C610 controller was out of stock at the DJI store source ↗ |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 4/5 Advanced · Needs two custom PCBs assembled by JLCPCB, CAN-bus brushless motors and course-style instructions spread across labs. |
| Build time | Not stated |
| Tools needed | 3D printer (hobby FDM), PCB assembly ordered from JLCPCB (2 custom boards), basic hand tools |
| Motors | DJI M2006 brushless motors with C610 controllers |
| Controller | Teensy microcontroller + Raspberry Pi |
| Sensors | BMI160 IMU on custom PCB (ICM20649 as substitute) |
| Published | ✓ Parts list✓ CAD/STL✓ Assembly guide✗ Wiring✓ Software✓ Video ReadTheDocs course site (labs) + Google Sheets parts list + Fusion 360 shares + YouTube clips |
| Activity | Last update 2023-09-20 · 23 GitHub stars · Course repo with 23 stars and 10 forks |
| Kits | None known |
Licenses
No license is stated for the design files. They are published for building, but without a license the right to copy, modify or redistribute them is not granted.
| Design files | None found source ↗ |
|---|---|
| Code | MIT (DJIC610Controller and DJIPupperTests firmware repos); Apache-2.0 (puppersim) source ↗ |
| Documentation | None found (site footer reads Copyright 2021, Nathan Kau, Abi Lopez, Gabrael Levine; course repo has no LICENSE) source ↗ |
Builder notes
Practical points from the project's issue tracker, forum and docs, each linked to its source.
- The course parts list spreadsheet has separate tabs, one for the robot-arm labs only and one (Pupper v2.1) for the full robot, so the right tab matters when ordering. source ↗
- The BMI160 IMU on the bottom PCB is sometimes out of stock, and the course suggests leaving it off and fitting an Adafruit ICM20649 instead. source ↗
- Some older bottom PCBs have a faulty 5V regulator, so the FAQ recommends powering the Raspberry Pi over USB-C instead of from the board. source ↗
- The source repo for this v2 course is confusingly named pupperv3-independent-study and has not been updated since 2023, as the club moved to Pupper v3. source ↗
Other quadrupeds plans
- Kame32 (MiniKame successor) · $90–$100 · difficulty 2/5
- Stanford Pupper (servo version) · $900–$1,000 (2024) · difficulty 3/5
- Spot Micro (SpotMicroAI) · $420–$510 · difficulty 3/5
- SpotMicroESP32 Leika · $230–$600 · difficulty 3/5
- Pupper v3 · $2,000 · difficulty 4/5
- ODRI Solo 12 · $7,100 (2022) · difficulty 5/5
- Mini Pupper (MangDang) · $760 · difficulty 2/5
- Dingo Quadruped · $900 · difficulty 3/5
- openDog V3 · $2,800–$3,400 (2023) · difficulty 4/5