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Saturday, October 24, 2009

The Robot Walks On Carpet

Here is another video of the robot walking! Wow exciting! Well not really but there are a few things that are different between this video and the last couple that I have posted. The first thing that is new is I broke down and bought a new camera... I really needed a new camera. The digital camera that I have been using was originally purchased from an Egyptian Pharaoh, second hand right outside his pyramid so it was old but in good condition! The new camera was on sale, has sound and is much better resolution. So no more fuzzy dark silent movies that you can't see anything.
 

 
The other thing that is different is the robot is walking on carpet. This may not seem like a big deal but it is really (to me). Up until now the contraption has been stumbling along on a rubber mat to add some friction to the feet. Trying to walk in carpet didn't work very well because the feet tended to get hung up in the threads of the carpet. Well messing with the speed and the leg positions overcame that problem so now it can walk on the carpet. There are still some issues to be worked out to get it to walk straight but I know what is going on with that so it's just a matter of fixing it.
 

 
The last video is the initialization of the servo motors and the legs running through the walk cycle. Looking closely I think I see a problem in the speed changes not being sent to the board and some timing in the commands being executed. More stuff to fix in the code.

This is an ongoing project that is being done in a 'make it up as I go along' style. Now that I have it walking I want to make it turn, change speeds etc... but adding sensors and a stand alone controller board so I'm not tethered to my laptop are the next big things. Stay tuned....

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