Low Cost Hexapod

**Chench** · 05-31-2011

Hi guys,
Finally got back to this project and did a bit of work. I started using the Maestro speed commands to control the rate at which the servos move to their new position. This helped a lot with the smoothness. Also added an abdomen part which holds the battery and voltage regulator. The walking is much better now, and faster than I had hoped

. It could actually be sped up further, I am not at the servos' limit yet. I made a quick video to show it doing IK moves and some walking towards the end. Sorry about the miserable webcam quality!

I have also implemented a simple autonomous wandering around behaviour using the sonar. However it's not very reliable; for some reason the sensor is giving me pretty inaccurate ranges, possible because of the way I have it mounted or because it is too close to the floor. I am going to try to get this working better. Also I have an IR sensor to add along with a bunch of whisker switches for objects it doesn't spot. My current goal is to have it wander around the house without getting stuck. After that I can begin on more advanced behaviours.

**Fanatic** · 05-31-2011

Originally Posted by Chench

...walking is much better now, and faster than I had hoped

.

WOO! So this is the micro servo hexapod Cire of Immortal was talking about, I'm relieved at the speed it can handle for I have micro servos too! GO MICRO SERVOS!!!

Originally Posted by Chench

I have also implemented a simple autonomous wandering around behaviour....After that I can begin on more advanced behaviours.

Hope you get that sensor to work out, and can't wait to see more from this low cost robot! (It inspires me!)

ps. awesome idea for battery placement

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Edit: OMG I didn't see your leg design up close before...Its awesome how you connected the servo shaft to the leg, I might have to borrow that technique XD (so much better than my crazy clue idea...:S)
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**Chench** · 06-06-2011

Spent several hours this weekend on re-organising the code. This has added absolutely no functionality at all but it will make it a lot easier to do interesting things in future (: . I have had a couple of requests to see the code so I attach it here.