Hexapod
April 15, 2020
First of all this is not really a hardware topic, but I love building robots.
The brain is always way beyond than my possibilities at creating models in SolidEdge.
Very accurate drawing? Maybe, but let's not go into details!
The guy inside me is very excited. He considered.
- Energy consumption?
- Enormous Velocity?
- How big should it be?
- Should I be able to ride it?
- Color?
Well, this was about 1 year ago.
Now i have made a big step ahead. I finished a second leg. Outta 6.
OK OK, now we're getting serious.
Here are some wires visible, which the Arduino should evaluate. Maybe too much "skin points".
I tried a few "skin" types: The goal was something like, very light, easy to build, but no less inferior, precise and so on.
A try with a zip ties and copper foil / spring.
The best solution was this soft skin made out of foam.
The first idea was something like a robot which is cleaning my photovoltaic panels on the roof.
This giant thing on a 32° tiled roof? Would look impressive.
Now the project is more inspired by the mars rover.
- The aimed velocity is about 4 cm per second.
- Dimensions are almost like Curiosity.
- But I think that legs would be better. Sure, nothing is easier than 6 wheels, but i try it the natural way.
- Have you ever seen an animal with wheels?
- Photovoltaic panels will be the power source. (Maybe with a wind turbine)
- Every leg has 4 security layers, like end-switches, current sensors, position sensors and a software monitoring.
- A little AI because I would love to delay the signals by 6 min. (One direction)
26th of December 2020:
Some of the ball-bearings with aluminium flanges.
Here we have my prototype of a leg control board with 3 current sensors and 3 H-bridges.
The 18th of April 2021:
20th of Mai 2021:
I also built a prototype for some extra flexibility, but it was not a good idea.
I installed three PV panels on the robot as an extra power source. They can be folded up.
Here on earth it is a bit more difficult to fold the panels than in space.
The folding mechanism:
I tried to push the panales sideways, but this system is higher and definitly does not look nice.
Outside testing:
Some helping hands.
In near future I would like 6 PV panels on the robot like this:
A small ride with the big one.
December 2023:
- I welded a lot of reinforcements.
- Main movement motors got rearranged.
- LiFePO4 battery as the main powersource.
- The legs got strengthened.
- Connecting all cables and other wiring.
- Programmed the PV panel folding sequence.
RoboticsDay 2024:
My HexaBot and the
Robotic Arm
are going to be presented at and robotics event.
The last reperations for the "day of days" took place in my flat.
Back in the hood:
After some stressful weeks, the HexaBot is back in the garage and waits for summer.
