My Theo Jansen Walker is getting closer and closer to a robot-project-page-worthy machine/creature. The port side is now complete but not finished.
Complete in the sense that I have all components designed, purchaged, built and even assembled. Not finished in the sense that it will not move! Hence the lack of video. Photographs will have to do.
There is friction in every moving part of this finger trap. Too much friction for the pulley on the motor shaft to handle. It is grinding through the teeth on the timing belt. I will have to figure out which part is the big trouble maker. And then sand down some of the plywood parts as well. And then lubricate all the pivots with bees wax. And find a better way to tension the belts. Or maybe start shopping for much biger ones.
I think you should have more then enough power to move your legs, friction is probably your biggest enemy. Once you have all your joints moving smoothly it should turn very easily.
I know the legs on my walker are much smaller, but even with 6 legs on one axle I can still move them very easily with just my fingers, the resistance of moving on the ground is much greater.
I got the first leg running (again). I disconnected it from the other legs. This is the one that had the most filing and sanding done on it. Therefore, the pivots are very loose. And I lubricated them all with bee wax, as Chris advised. (He is a carpenter, you know!)
I attached an LED on the tip of the foot and placed the camera in front of it. Long exposures show the path of the foot. In the above picture, you can vaguely see the LED leads running left to right. Here's the close ups:
The numbers are exposure times. Notice the different path in the bottom photo. It is running in the opposite direction and displays a few bumps in the upper part of the trace. And the bump in the right hand part (which is the rear of the robot) disappears. Also notice how flat the bottom part of the trace is. That is Theo Jansen's work. His genetic algorithm was set to find the flattest step motion. This means the creature is never lifted by the leg, thus saving energy.
Where the trace is brightest, the LED is moving the slowest. Notice the small gap in the 1.0 s exposure (top). I guess this motor can push one lubricated leg around its path once per second. The reduction ratio in the pulley system is 1:1 in this experiment.
Video to follow. As if that needs to be mentioned.
