Hexapods invade the Tucson Technics!

Run for your lives! No, not really.

Thank you to Matt Bunting and Christine from the University of Arizona. They came to speak to the Tucson Technics yesterday.

Matt brought his amazing two hexapod robots! They were fantastic.

Will have more later.

Thanks again!

Related links
Fox News article









Units in millimeters (mm):



Hexapod robot designed at the Robotics and Neural Systems Laboratory (RNSL) at the University of Arizona.

The hexapod is using Robotis AX-12, RX-10, and RX-28 servo motors. The controller is a Fit-PC2 with Intel Atom Z530 Processor computer running Ubuntu 9.04, with a custom PIC18F4550 based USB board to pipe motor control protocol.





This is a demonstration of the new leg design which is much more solid than the previous design. Also, new 3D balance gestures have been included based on a spring model. Balance gestures are shown both turned on and off for comparison.

The gray plastic was designed in Solidworks, and was created using a Dimension BST 1200es 3D printer.

Inverse kinematics is used with a dynamic walking gait. The dynamics still need work to be smoother and faster. The legs are not calibrated perfectly either, which can be seen when a foot occasionally lifts up.

Currently the robot has foot contact sensors which will be used in the future for terrain adaptation. Three AX-12 motors will be used to control a camera with 3DOF.