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The Theory

A project log for Search for a four servo walking robot

It ran away after a heated discussion about AVR vs Pic. If you've seen it please tell it I'm so sorry, and that I miss it so much.

x86-fanboyx86 FanBoy 06/01/2016 at 11:300 Comments

So, before we jump into testing, let's just talk theory for a bit.

In asking around online about how you could get this thing to walk, people suggested numerous ideas.

"Rotate each leg forwards one at time then rotate them all backwards simultaneously."

"It can be done. Might be goofy and involve lots of shuffling, but it can be done.
One option:
>Shift all four servos forward to stick bot's ass out and get more weight on the back feet
>Spread feet slowly; rears will grip and fronts will slide
>Shift weight to front feet by angling legs backwards some (while maintaining spacing)
>Scoot legs inward again; rears will slide while fronts grip"

Then there was...

"Put slippery material on one part of each foot, grippy material on another. Then you can set friction based on the leg angle."

...which is interesting. I was trying to see how to get it to walk as is, without modifying it (cheating), but this brought up a good thought.

Why not put some kind of slanted bristles, angled rubber, whatever you may want, so you can push the feet forwards without any grip, but when you push them back they grip.

A fault here is they may not be able to go backwards, but if you where to put grips on the edges, around a slippery middle, you could grip or loosen going either forwards or backwards.

This is semi important, because it's how the student was able to make his bot walk (without any grips).

By pulling the first two feet backwards, then madly flinging the back feet from front to back, whenever the back feet pushed the bot forwards it would slide, but when they pulled backwards the front feet would act as a grip.

Wanna reverse? Just spin the front feet around the other way, or just reverse the roles.

It's not quite walking, but it is funny to watch.

[Insert video here]


Anyway, once I get the software basics down I'll see how many of these I can try.

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