Grinder skating hexapod robot

[psyclops]

Hello folks! I am new to the forums and I would like to introduce my latest progeny, a new skating hexapod called Grinder. The robot has 20 DOF utilizing 12x MX64T and 8x MX28T servos and just won the Gold Medal in the Walker Challenge and the Silver Medal in Best of Show at RoboGames 2013.



The legs use a locking linkage mechanism that allows the robot to stand up without the motors being energized when the servo horn is inline with the driving linkage, resulting in zero force being transmitted back to the motors. In addition, there are passive inline skate wheels mounted on the end of the legs which are angled up when walking, but engage when the legs are spread, allowing the robot to skate at about 6 mph.



You can view Grinder's page at http://www.gotrobots.com/grinder/ - not much up yet but I'll be adding info as I go.

Video of the robot skating: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PklfvlpnBwk

Video of winning the Walker Challenge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opmPjHO_UP4

Video of the ripple gait: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLe8_BYZ3II

The current software was rushed for RoboGames and allowed for rudimentary gaits and skating. I am currently in the process of adding IK into the software to allow for more elegant and smooth motion. I also have a sensor array to build and mount which, in conjunction with the stereo machine vision, should allow the robot to localize itself autonomously.

[KevinO]

I stumbled upon your videos and posted them so Xevel could see last week. It turned out he was standing next to you at robogames. Nice work.

[jwatte]

I was really impressed by this guy at RoboGames. Very big!

I also have a sensor array to build and mount which, in conjunction with the stereo machine vision, should allow the robot to localize itself autonomously.

Do you have a particular algorithm/implementation/library in mind already? I've been looking at this, but am a little bit disappointed in the state of stereo software. I'm actually considering just using mono with image area classification for localization instead; it might work just as well and be more robust.

[KevinO]

I've been working with the prime sense camera and although it's not stereo. I've been able to identify depth of objects although it's still only one pixel at a time. If the object isn't one of the pixels I sampled it doesn't see the obstacle. So you could say that is a flaw. Here is a pic from my gallery that shows it on the hex. Still very much a work in progress. Also to note its a bit slow running on the Raspberry Pi especially if I'm using the color camera and microphones at the same time.

http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/ga...atid=newimages

[Xevel]

Yeah, Hello there
Glad you finally found you way here, welcome!
I can't wait to see what this one is going to look like with smooth and subtle motions!

[psyclops]

Thanks!

[psyclops]

Hi xevel, yes I am just getting started. I have a very simple IK demo in, but I'm looking forward to getting some smooth gaits down. I'm pretty sure that I can get the skating speed up pretty high with an optimized IK algorithm... videos to follow.

[psyclops]

I don't really at this stage; I did some very basic machine vision stuff in my AI course, and I have two separate friends who have working code (one in C, one in Perl) to look at. Stereo vision is a bit down my todo list behind full IK integration and basic sensor code. What are you coding in?

[psyclops]

I've been working with the prime sense camera and although it's not stereo. I've been able to identify depth of objects although it's still only one pixel at a time. If the object isn't one of the pixels I sampled it doesn't see the obstacle. So you could say that is a flaw. Here is a pic from my gallery that shows it on the hex. Still very much a work in progress. Also to note its a bit slow running on the Raspberry Pi especially if I'm using the color camera and microphones at the same time.

http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/ga...atid=newimages

Does the Prime Sense camera have any libraries to you are working with? What language? Looks pretty interesting; I had considered putting a Kinect on the robot but it's a bit big; this looks like a better bet. I might put a Neato LDS on it too (which would be cool as I designed the mechanicals and optics on it).

[hwan we]

robot design good
awesome ~~~