UA RNSL Intel Hexapod: 3D Balance Gestures Video

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.

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Yovillefreakify: How much does it cost to put one of these hexapod together?

Yovillefreakify: Please send me a message ^.^

blegas78: As shown, $2,500, but there's a lot of overly expensive motors in this one ;) I highly recommend checking out a website that has a great forum and actual hexapod kits for sale for much cheaper than mine: hexapodrobot (dot) com

Yovillefreakify: Okay thanx..oo one more thing.. i found a basic hexapod on robot shop. com, for only 250$ CAD, but the legs aren't my favorite. Is there anyway i can buy new legs to fit my liking or is made special so i can't?

blegas78: You can as long as the servos fit, but you can always customize everything. Also, I think the kit you are referring to may not include motors,

Yovillefreakify: It says i need 18x Hitec HS-645 servos (RB-Hit-29)... and they're 42$ each if thats an amount and not a type or coding..I'd better get saving.

Yovillefreakify: Which also means the servos cost more then the nit ...250 for the kit but 690 dollars for the servos... grr

blegas78: Hmm, I actually think that as a minimum you can use 6x HS-645 6x HS-445 6x HS-245 You only need 18x HS-645 for the best performance. If you are not an expert at coding, then check out the p.Brain HexEngine from the site I said above. It is a completely pre-programmed system for any custom sized hexapod, so you don't need to code as much.

Yovillefreakify: Dude you are a savoir

Yovillefreakify: And one last question..is the minimum use still okay or should i go high performance

blegas78: It's fine to go minimum performance, and you can upgrade over time. I would say the next step for upgrading would be: 12x HS-645 6x HS-245 Whatever your budget permits :)

Yovillefreakify: Not to annoy you...but i have yet another question yyou seemt o answer wonderfully...can i add one of those arms to pick things up to a hexapod?

blegas78: No worries! If you have the right tools, you can add whatever you want. The kits may not be designed to implement additional things like arms, but you can always figure out a way to mount it to the hexapod body yourself.

bretonion: Hey. Really impressed with your hexapod. I am just about to build one for my Masters project. I am a little lost with the system controller. I like the idea of using a Fit-PC2 with Ubuntu 9.1. What software did you use to control the robot? How did you create a PIC 18F servo controller? Is it possible to controll each legs position? Any help would b greatly appreciated. Thanks!

blegas78: I did all the software myself, both for the PIC18F4550 and on Ubuntu 9.04. The Fit-PC2 performs the inverse kinematics, dynamic walking gait, and balance gestures. it also connects to the PS3 Sixaxis controller. The PIC board takes advantage of the USB hardware peripheral in the PIC18F4550, and simply sends motor control protocol to each motor. Each position of each motor is calculated on the Fit-PC2, and is sent to the motors via the PIC board, so I can control the motors individually.

bretonion: Thanks for the reply. What software program did you use to program the heapod? Are you planning on making your robot autonomous? Or free from an external power source?

blegas78: For the Fit-PC2, everything was done in C++. For the PIC board, everything was done using MPLAB with the MCC18 compiler. I am currently adding vision to the robot for autonomous behavior, and batteries will be added purely as a nicety in a few weeks. Good luck with your Masters project, I hope I have helped!

bretonion: Thanks. No doubt will drop you a line later in the course and let you know what i have done. Thanks for your help.

Author: blegas78; Uploaded: Nov 5, 2009; Duration: 3:10; Views: 2744

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