• About

Max Hemingway

~ Musings as I work through life, career and everything.

Max Hemingway

Tag Archives: Arduino

Building a Quadruped

07 Friday Apr 2017

Posted by Max Hemingway in Arduino, Open Source, Programming, Robotics, STEM

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Arduino, learning, Open Source, Programming, Robot, Robotics, STEM

Robot3I decided to have a go at building a robot for a STEM session last weekend, to show the power of code and how it can be used to control something.  A moving robot is a great visualisation to demonstrate this.

After some searching I settled on a quadruped shown on thingverse (a 3d printing site). This is a build based on a robot called Chopstick Junior by Lumi.

Parts being printed, I set about thinking about the controls and motors. The parts are compatible with an SG90 servo. I needed 8 of these, for the knee and hip joints of the quadruped.

The assembly of the parts was a bit of a challenge as in the instructions it said you needed 3mm x 6mm screw/nuts to connect the shoulders together. You really need 3mm x 8mm screw/nuts as I have to countersink the holes a bit more to get the nuts to attach to the 6mm screw length.

Inserting the servos into the holes in the hips and legs required the unscrewing of the 4 small screws in each servo and temporarily removing the gear top. Once inserted this can be replaced and screwed down.

Once the servos were in place I centered the servos the best I could to allow backwards and forwards movement in each joint. I knew that later adjustment may be needed! This can easily be achieved removing the servo arm and hip/leg, then re-positioning and attaching the arm again.

The power is provided by 4 x AA batteries in a square battery holder. This was glued down onto the frame and fitted well into the build.

The power bus is provided by a small piece of circuit board. I used two lines for -v and +v. Each servo was then wired into the lines and the control wire to an Arduino Nano which is used as the brains of the robot.

The following pins were used on the Digital I/O on the Arduino Nano:

  • D2 – Hip 1
  • D3 – Knee1
  • D4 – Hip 2
  • D5 – Knee 2
  • D6 – Hip 3
  • D7 – Knee 3
  • D8 – Hip 4
  • D9 – Knee 4

I also wired in a sensor on the front of the robot to D10 and D11.

Wiring is grouped together to allow movement, but cut to a length that reduces excess that could get in the way of the legs.

A toggle switch provides an on/off for the power fixed to the rear of the robot. Remember to break the lines on the circuit board so it does not join any of the lines.

Once assembled I then got round to coding. I decided to use the opensource code for the Chopstick Junior as a base and make alterations. The quadruped responded well to the code and several physical servo adjustments were needed. Its now in a reasonable state, however balance is an issue in terms of walking steadily, so need to work more on this.  I have not yet coded movement to respond to the sensors yet, this will be done later.

The code is available via my Github:  https://github.com/Cloudmage/Robots

The robot went down well at the STEM session. Now to tweek that code……

Top view

Robot2

Side View

Robot3

Front View

Robot1

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Technology Couch Podcast

Technology Couch Podcast

Topical discussions with different guests on Technology

Chat and views on latest Technology trends, news and what is currently hot in the industry

Max Hemingway

Follow via iTunes

RSS Feed

RSS Feed RSS - Posts

Currently Reading

@HemingwayReads

Other Publications I contribute to

https://sparrowhawkbushcraft.com/

Recent Posts

  • Logical and Creative Thinking
  • Experimental Mindset
  • Data Storytelling
  • Data Fellowship
  • Geek Out as a Scout Leader – Rolling a NAT 20

Categories

  • 21st Century Human
  • 3D Printing
  • Applications
  • Architecture
  • Arduino
  • Automation
  • Big Data
  • Certification
  • Cloud
  • Cobotics
  • Connected Home
  • Data
  • Data Science
  • Development
  • DevOps/OpsDev
  • Digital
  • DigitalFit
  • Drone
  • Enterprise Architecture
  • Governance
  • Innovation
  • IoT
  • Machine Learning
  • Micro:Bit
  • Mindset
  • Networks
  • Open Source
  • Podcasts
  • Productivity
  • Programming
  • Quantum
  • Raspberry Pi
  • Robotics
  • Scouting
  • Scouts
  • Security
  • Smart Home
  • Social Media
  • STEM
  • Tools
  • Uncategorized
  • Wearable Tech
  • Windows
  • xR

Archives

Reading Shelf

Archives

Recent Posts

  • Logical and Creative Thinking
  • Experimental Mindset
  • Data Storytelling
  • Data Fellowship
  • Geek Out as a Scout Leader – Rolling a NAT 20

Top Posts & Pages

  • Logical and Creative Thinking
  • About
  • Playing a Game with Innovation and Thinking
  • Data Scientist Job Titles, Architecture and Software Warlocks
  • Manual tasks of today should be the Automated tasks of tomorrow
  • Having the Right Digital Mindset: Application
  • Personal Knowledge Management System – Revised for 2020
  • STEM - Hypothetical Big Questions - Robots
  • IT Professionals and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Hours
  • Personal Knowledge Management System

Category Cloud

21st Century Human Architecture Automation Big Data Cloud Cobotics Data Data Science Development DevOps/OpsDev Digital DigitalFit Enterprise Architecture Governance Innovation IoT Machine Learning Mindset Open Source Podcasts Productivity Programming Raspberry Pi Robotics Security Social Media STEM Tools Uncategorized Wearable Tech

Tags

# 3D Printing 21st Century Human AI API Applications Architecture Arduino Automation Big Data Blockchain Certification Cloud Cobot Cobotics Coding Communication Connected Home Continuous Delivery CPD Data Data Science Delivery Development DevOps Digital DigitalFit Digital Human Docker Drone Email Encryption Enterprise Architecture Framework GTD Hashtag Infographic Information Theory Innovation IoT Journal Knowledge learning Machine Learning Micro:Bit MicroLearning Mindset Mixed Reality Networks Open Source OpsDev Podcasts Productivity Programming Proving It R RaspberryPI Robot Robotics Scouts Security Smart Home Social Media Standards Statistical Inference STEM Technology Couch Podcast Thinking Tools Training Visualisation Voice Wearable Tech Windows xR

License

Creative Commons Licence
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
    <span>%d</span> bloggers like this: