this is the next evolutionary step from my trashbot version 1. i decided that i want to build more robots made from recycled mechanical parts instead of shaping parts or buying parts. so this version is made from a recycled pcb, harddrive holders, the SHIFT mechanics from an olivetti lettera 32 and some parts from an old bike.
it also evolved in electronics in that i added a relay between the arduino and the servos to keep the system from dancing while the arduino "boots".
Very cool, I love the way it’s shifting it’s weight for balance. Does it have a feedback mechanism to know how much to shift in order to keep it’s scenter of gravity on top of the load-baring foot? Or do you re-calibrate if the load changes, e.g. if it would pick up an object or if you’d add more components to it?
hi, thanks for the comments. right now the gait is static and there are no feedback systems. i plan to add an ultra-sound detector to measure the distance and thus allow it to sense its speed from here, it could start to learn how to walk more efficiently. before that, i will add a gyro / accelerometer to sense the angles, this will be based on a chest.
center of gravity is certainly a topic but i think from a gyro alone it doesn’t work, possibly it would help to have at least two maybe for sensors per food to measure the real contact with the ground. this will not work with the arduino nano as there are not enough channels, i guess. so: yes many things to do.
I’m also planning to add sensors to my robot; I hope to sense the angles of the servos by modifying them and getting access to the potmeter inside, so that there’s not so many accelero’s required. If that works properly you only need 1 accelero somewhere, and the rest of the positions you can calculate relatively to that one.
In the ideal case that would also mean there’s no sensors on the foot required anymore, if you have a simple model of the robot and the weights of the different parts. Still, foot sensors are really cool of course, for adjusting the foot properly before shifting weight on it when walking on some irregular surface
