Introduction to walking robots.

for mechanical inspirations you can look up on google Robo-one. most of the links will probably be in japanese but there's alot of pictures and videos floating around. here's a link for some servo controllers scroll down to the bottom

Robert

Thanks for the link it looks like exactly what I'm after.

Naveed

You might want to look into getting a copy of Gordon McCombs "Robot Builder's Sourcebook". It's 700+ pages packed full of web links, addresses, etc for everything from A-Z in robotics.

Excellent time saver, and it's less than $25.00.

-Bruce

I would strongly suggest that you start with a simple wheeled robot at first. You can get something up and running (well, rolling) much more quickly and cheaply.

-- D. Jay Newman

Check out Karl Williams's 3 books on constructing walkers.

Also, for catalogs of existing walkers, see the following sites:

- dan michaels

=======================

As Jay notes elsewhere you should really start with a rolling robot first. Build something that uses modified servos -- the turn continuously -- and you can get some experience in controlling servos with a microcontroller. The control process is the same. Wheeled robots are a lot cheaper to make mistakes with.

If you're looking for ready-made kits, Lynxmotion has some new 'bots that are quite advanced for the hobby. Prices to match, but they are reasonable considering what goes into them. At the very least you can look at the pictures to see how it's done. Parallax's Toddler is an interesting variation on a bipedal robot, and it's only about $250 or so. I'd recommend building from scratch only if you're good in the shop.

Bruce was kind enough to suggest my book but, while it contains a walking robot project, it is a "linked gait" type and doesn't run on servos. If you were to build the size of robot specified in the book using independent joints (separate high-torque closed-feedback DC servos) it would cost *thousands* of dollars.

-- Gordon Author: Constructing Robot Bases, Robot Builder's Sourcebook, Robot Builder's Bonanza

How many legs?

two legs, two arms one head.

Bruce

Thanks for the info on the book. I will go to the local book store and see if they have it this weekend.

Do you happen to know if there is a website that lists various robot building clubs here in the uk. Surbiton to be abit more exact.

Thanks

Naveed

Hi Naveed,

You're welcome. This book has been my #1 resource for locating TONs of parts & online resources. Certainly worth the minimal investment.

I'm sure you can probably turn up a few thousand more by searching google.com but that should get you started.

-Bruce

That's an excellent good start. A few years ago I sat in on a class about walking animals presented by RJ Fullerton who runs the Polypedal Lab at UC Berkeley. His insights into the energy saving mechanisms of the spring action of tendons were quite interesting. Start with a google search for polypedal lab. He also suggeted that the insect mechanisms offered robust locomotion without much brain power. Bipedal walking will require balance, however, and that will be hard. Leave an option for a cane or a walker to start. If you are really into human inspired robots I would also suggest an author by the name of Kapandji who did extensive biomechanical investigation of all the joints, make sure you get a translated version, that is, if you are not fluent in French.

Brad

The last couple of years, I've spent a fair amount of time trying to understand the basics of locomotion ....

and I have to say that Robert Full's work at the Polypedal lab is my faviorite source of research material:

- dan michaels ====================

If you wnat to get into bipedal balancing robots, I've found the book "Legged Robots That Balance" by Marc Raibert to be a fun, inspirational and educational read.

Kevin

From Amazon; Editorial Reviews Book Description This book, by a leading authority on legged locomotion, presents exciting engineering and science, along with fascinating implications for theories of human motor control. It lays fundamental groundwork in legged locomotion, one of the least developed areas of robotics, addressing the possibility of building useful legged robots that run and balance. The book describes the study of physical machines that run and balance on just one leg, including analysis, computer simulation, and laboratory experiments. Contrary to expectations, it reveals that control of such machines is not particularly difficult. It describes how the principles of locomotion discovered with one leg can be extended to systems with several legs and reports preliminary experiments with a quadruped machine that runs using these principles. Raibert's work is unique in its emphasis on dynamics and active balance, aspects of the problem that have played a minor role in most previous work. His studies focus on the central issues of balance and dynamic control, while avoiding several problems that have dominated previous research on legged machines. Marc Raibert is Associate Professor of Computer Science and Robotics at Carnegie-Mellon University and on the editorial board of The MIT Press journal, Robotics Research. Legged Robots That Balance is fifteenth in the Artificial Intelligence Series, edited by Patrick Winston and Michael Brady. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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