hi guys! i’m working on a project. it’s a biped (two-leg robot). i think the animation(click on the image) shows the most but… that on the top is a hard disk platter on a fast spinning motor. it must act like a simple gyroscope, keeping the robot straight… i’m not quite sure, if it’s gonna work, but i’ll try i have all the parts and i have allready build the"body", but i don’t have a torx screwdriver to unscrew the platter so till i find one i have to imagine only what will happen any ideas? please tell me, if you are sure, that it’s not gonna work. why? 10x!
Of course it will work ! Even if it’s only for .25 seconds… the gyroscope is more stable the faster it spins and the heavier the platter is, of course both of these things will make it more destructive when it falls over. Another thing you might consider is the gyroscope is turning one direction - this will make the robot want to turn in the opposite direction - so if it does last longer than .25 seconds, your robot will want to do a tight turn… The more pointy shoes will make it easier for the bot to turn - so you might get a few pirouttes before falling over…
you are deffinetly right about the spinning and i knew it. there are several ways to fix this problem, but i wanted to make some experiments first to consider what will be the best way for doing it. here are some examples
1. two spikes on every feet 3. one of the legs make shorter step
i consider using some kind of pendulum too
2. that is some platform to keep the disk away from the earth, when the robot falls down
Hi, this is surely original Hi, this is surely original The idea of keeping it balanced with something spinning is nice. For what i can understand, i think Grog is right, it will be unstable becouse when it’s on only one foot, the body will probably turn around itself. I think the only way to stabilize it is to add a second plate spinning on the opposite direction… This will probably make it more complex to build, but i’d love to see the results
counter rotation would cancel the effect - also you might consider pads vs spikes - the increase of surface area of the foot wood help stabalize it too - depending on the material its foot might not come back up (also might be harsh on the coffee table)
the smaller diameter disk is not as effective - larger diameter = higher speed at the edge , higher speed = better stability - possibly you could widen the body until its outside the edge of the disk.
If I remember the physics correctly from my r/c helicopter days, the spinning disk should only cause the robot to turn while it’s accelerating or decelerating. Once the disk is spinning at a constant speed, I believe it shouldn’t exert any rotational force on the robot.
we may have a similar project idea Hi,<o:p></o:p>I see you’re trying to build a bipedal robot–hey me too! But I’m gonna use a mechanical walking frame and adapt that to walk on its own…different from your gyro-thingy but I’m coming round to maybe using something similar…I’ve to solve the balance problem as well.<o:p></o:p><o:p></o:p>Regards J<o:p></o:p>
yeah! this is a great idea! 3 legs will do it much better! well, i don’t think that on the pic is what you mean, but when i saw it, the first thing what i was thinking about was the MECHAMO - inchworm (which i have). it could be much better, but what i want to build is a BIped. i was inspired from a noob in the bulgarian robotics forum, who want to build a humanoid. he deffinetly won’t finish his project, but i was thinking on an easy way to keep bipod walking. and yeah, i can use pads, 3 legs, 4 legs, but what i want is that on my first picture a two-small-foot robot keeping balance. i still can’t find a torx screwdriver(for the hard disks) and i’m going in hollyday soon, but i’ll inform you when i make some progress. and what is about the 250 uS? why 250?is it not depending on the weight, speed of spinning, distance between the legs and so on…?? i know it will spin but i think some pendulumon on the right place will do the job. for example:
p.s. don't laught - i made the animation on paint. i'm too lame for 3d or flash...
250 uS - is short for 250 micro seconds or 0.00025 second
I thought that it was quite safe margin for success, because even if it immediately fell over… it would still spend at least 0.00025 seconds falling over, so you are guaranteed success. I don’t know about the pendalum - the picture i was trying to part had a second counterspinning platter to negate the forces of the first platter. - but the only way to be sure is to build it
Have you considered Theo Jansen’s kinetic sculptures, his mechanism for “beests” may be a key to gaining stability of walking due to the fact that its mechanism is built around a lurch-free motion (like the axle joining two wheels on a car). I haven’t seen a two legged version, but I’ve seen a four legged solar-powered kinetic horse sculpture that walks superbly. It’s certainly not a million miles away from your diagrams and may very well work with your spinning top thing.
well yeah… jansen’s well yeah… jansen’s sculptures are really beautifull, but i’m not quite sure, that i have to start with legs like this. they aren’t easy to build, but probably it’s not so bad idea. the problem is, that i can’t fix the distance of the step once i made it… i don’t know… but thanks for the idea
as seen by gyro-stabilized binoculars in space shuttles That’s how it should be, unfortunately, it is always accellerating and doing work against friction (air and otherwise). Although I guess friction in the bearings is still within the system, so in a vacuum, the robot will not spin itself out of control?
Check this link. If you scroll down to “Self-standing Gyro Crawler” there’s something that might interest you regarding this project.
It has to legs, and keeps it balanse with a cheap-and-easy gyro. I noticed this in the description “allowing it to go forwards or backwards depending on how far into the body of the fan the balance is attached”. Wouldn’t that mean that if you attach a servo that move the gyro in and out on the axle, you could controll its motion? If you make it rotate to the right for 90 degrees, then to the left for 90 degrees, then repeat this. -Wouldn’t that make it “walk” forward?
Interesting thought! But I think it would only make it stand and turn one direction, then to the other… Still with more little moving things, something interesting could be done, I am sure!
Just hope it is not windy or something, it will be easy to tip over… and when tipped, it will go KAtJXZASa!!uuuiiiiIIIEEEng!
i have all the parts and i have allready build the"body", but i don’t have a torx screwdriver to unscrew the platter 
so till i find one i have to imagine only what will happen 
