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From the MAKE Flickr pool:
Mr. Tentacle submitted this image of his six-legged robot, Hexateuthis - "the 6-legged land squid".
The design uses 18 Lynxmotion servo motors controlled by a Pololu Orangutan board (with an Atmega168 at the helm). Throw in some sleek cabling/chassis contrast and you've got yourself one fine piece of machine.
Hexateuthis on Flickr -Link
Pololu Orangutan Robot Controller -Link
Linxmotion Robot Kits -Link
Hexateuthis First Steps on YouTube -Link
Related:
The Hexipod 3 -Link
Video showing linear walking found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laHRbX26Rm8
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i wonder why the programmer chose make the servo speed on vertical movements (leg height) slow, while lateral movements (leg's xy position) very quick. the bot doesnt seem too vulnerable to gravity... just slap some rubber pads on the feet. this thing has the potential to really jet around...
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@s1200, I grabbed this from another forum that Mr.Tentacle frequents where he responds to your question (I hope he doesn't mind me quoting):
"Why so slow? The servos are zippy on the way up, but down is agonizing! It doesn't have touch sensors in the feet does it?
Touch sensors would be mega-cool as well as useful, but no.
I do most of the basic moves by sending a single "position" command to a given servo and letting the servo controller do the work. On the leg extension I don't - I move the knee and ankle servos 1 step at a time in the code, otherwise the feet end up splayed out too far.
I am still working on getting the moves to be both smooth and effective - e.g. with the terminal position being what is needed. Getting the leg extension as fast as the rest of the moves is part of the work still be to done.
Once its all where I want it to be, the next step is to generalize all the moves so it can move off in any direction by selecting which leg is the "zero" position."
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@ NMajik
I'm really curious where you got the chassis hardware. I've built a simple quadruped but I cut all the chassis parts from (thin) aluminum and it's a little crude since I'm a mediocre machinist at best. Your chassis parts are gorgeous! Did you make them yourself, or are they available for purchase somewhere?
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@Shamyl Zakariya
Haha, I wish I could do something like this, but I am not Mr. Tentacle, the creator.
I think he answers your question in a flickr caption where he states, "The chassis, legs, and servos are all from Lynxmotion."
I'm hoping he'll chime in with more details.
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