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Here's a video of it in action.
Facebook page so you can keep up to date on v2
Have you completed this instructable? Send me pictures and I'll add it on this page!
When completed, you will have a walking robot that is about 2 feet wide and stands as much as a foot tall. It has lots of room for added features and improvements so feel free to use it for your own robotics experiments or share your improvements with others.
Build time is about 3-5 hours and it is not the easiest project. You could burn yourself. You could electrocute yourself. You could fry the circuits and let the magic smoke out. There is no warranty. SO: Take breaks. Wash your hands. Drink lots of water.
Tools and supplies you will need (not listed in the bill of materials):
Facebook page so you can keep up to date on v2
Have you completed this instructable? Send me pictures and I'll add it on this page!
When completed, you will have a walking robot that is about 2 feet wide and stands as much as a foot tall. It has lots of room for added features and improvements so feel free to use it for your own robotics experiments or share your improvements with others.
Build time is about 3-5 hours and it is not the easiest project. You could burn yourself. You could electrocute yourself. You could fry the circuits and let the magic smoke out. There is no warranty. SO: Take breaks. Wash your hands. Drink lots of water.
Tools and supplies you will need (not listed in the bill of materials):
- a soldering iron
- large phillips screwdriver
- small slotted screwdriver
- pliers
- wire strippers
- helping hands (optional, and very helpful)
- windows PC (with optional bluetooth)
- USB cable (think the square style that usually goes in a printer)
- electrical tape
- wire stripping
- soldering
TIP: Get a friend or SO to help! "I hold the part while you screw this bit here, then we switch."
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Signing UpStep 1Acquiring materials
Option 1: get all the parts yourself
Most of the parts listed here can be obtained at your local electronics store.
DisplayDuino and ServoBoard are sold through Sparkfun.com.
Source code and DXF files for unique parts are available online from http://visual-hexapod.sourceforge.net/
You will have to the parts yourself. I used 2mm Acrylic though you may want to try aluminum or some other material. I recommend a CNC machine.
Some of the parts come from lynxmotion. Shipping costs vary.
If you download the source code you will find the DXF part files in /trunk/other/part layout.dxf
Option 2: get all the parts in a kit
It costs more but it's a lot more convenient. The extra money will fund further developments of your robot and other future robots.
get the kit
Editor's note: I did a search among the online hexapod retailers I know. For the equivalent closed-source kit you'd either pay about £630 or $1200, depending on who your order from. I'm offering the full kit + shipping for $999. Don't take my word for it - if you find a better price, send me a private message please!
Most of the parts listed here can be obtained at your local electronics store.
DisplayDuino and ServoBoard are sold through Sparkfun.com.
Source code and DXF files for unique parts are available online from http://visual-hexapod.sourceforge.net/
You will have to the parts yourself. I used 2mm Acrylic though you may want to try aluminum or some other material. I recommend a CNC machine.
Some of the parts come from lynxmotion. Shipping costs vary.
If you download the source code you will find the DXF part files in /trunk/other/part layout.dxf
Option 2: get all the parts in a kit
It costs more but it's a lot more convenient. The extra money will fund further developments of your robot and other future robots.
get the kit
Editor's note: I did a search among the online hexapod retailers I know. For the equivalent closed-source kit you'd either pay about £630 or $1200, depending on who your order from. I'm offering the full kit + shipping for $999. Don't take my word for it - if you find a better price, send me a private message please!
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best regard.
edy
svn co https://visual-hexapod.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/visual-hexapod visual-hexapod
or online at
http://visual-hexapod.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/visual-hexapod/
Did I missed something?
Most of the application should compile in linux or OSX if you create a build script. The only part you'll have to rewrite is the serial library that sends messages to the arduino.
Good x-platform question!
I can tell you must have spend some time on it. Thanks for sharing. This is a really nice project!
I will be working on a similar hexapod during the next 6 month, I have a few idea to reduce the price a bit (student budget...)
Also I will release my code in about 6 month, if it is good enough for sharing it.
Stay tuned ;)
I strongly recommend you build a virtual model of your robot like I did and test things there before you spend money on hardware that might not work - or worse, break itself the first time you turn it on! I lost three $15 servos that way.
Good luck!
I have chosen the electronic components but I'm waiting to finish the mechanical design before I purchase anything.
I have some issue with the weight. On my computer, my current design weight over 1.7kg... I'm trying to reduce it to 1kg without batteries...
How did you manage the weight? Did your servo had enough torque to handle it?
If you just need the part models, I released DXF files as part of the sourceforge project.
In all honesty I didn't worry about the weight. I figured if it couldn't lift itself I would shave extra metal off of the frame later. The final weight with the battery is 2.3kg in my model so you're doing pretty good.
I posted a video on youtube: http://youtu.be/3SEzLQic7Sg
I'm still planning to release all my work (CAD + Code) but I've a few things to do before. I'll be in touch if anyone is interested.
Btw, the total weight of my robot is about 2.3kg so the servos I'm using are a bit weak for the job, but it still work, fewwww :-)
...I'm tellin ya. Call Hollywood. :)