[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqI-sDJTyuo&w=470]
Here’s a great tutorial on how to make a tiny hexapod walker. While this was written specifically for a kit that is sold by pololu, we like the simple layout. You could implement your own electronics if you prefer something else. If you want to follow along with their components, you’ll end up with a fairly small and decently agile hexapod. Sure the legs aren’t articulated at every joint, but the effect is workable. This is probably the first 3 servo walking hexapod we’ve encountered and we’ve seen a pretty decent amount of hexapods.
[Via HackedGadgets]
Ingenious! I’ve always wanted to build a hexapod but the cost of the required servos kept me away. This really is a fantastic idea for swarm bots. etc..
this is also nice hexapod animation
http://www.hexapods.net/F206-Hexapod.htm?h
OH great idea! Time to go build one this way out of lego.
Nice…
I hate to do this but: would ‘implement’ read better than implant?
@tehgringe,
Not only would it work better, it is what I meant to type. I don’t know where implant came from. Maybe spell check got me on a typo.
Come on guys, it’s Pololu not Polulu.
@Ryan,
indeed it is. it would seem I am on a roll.
That’ll be the side effects then…
http://hackaday.com/2010/01/09/ces-caleb-gets-tased/
Sweet! I want to make one now, but I think I have enough parts already (minus the servos). Is there any simple way to have three servos controlled by an Attiny24v? It only has one 16-bit timer with two PWM channels, so I don’t know what to do.
geeklord,
Let’s say your servo requires a pulse every 20 ms. Set a timer to trigger an interrupt every 20 ms. When that interrupt triggers, start the pulse to each servo. Now, you have three events that you want to trigger – let’s say the first happens in x ms, the next in y ms, the last in z ms. Set the timer interrupt to trigger in x ms. When that triggers, set the next one to trigger in y-x ms. When that triggers, set the next one to trigger in z-y-x ms. When each one triggers, end the pulse to that servo.
Not bad, but is a commercial product really a hack? Check out mine if you want –
http://jscook55.webs.com/hexapod.htm
I got the idea from some pics on the internet, but other than that it was programmed and machined by myself.
Is it just me, or could this be done with 2 servos? It seems like 2 of the servos mirror each other, would it be much more inefficient to just attach four of the legs to one servo?
I gotta try this when my AVR ICSP gets here…
Fwirt, look carefully at how it turns – the servos do not mirror each other. With only 2 I think you could go forward, but you would not be able to turn much, if at all.
Jim, does it not count as a hack because I did it at work? Pololu sells most of the parts, but the hexapod itself is not one of our products. Yours is pretty nice, by the way – a much more advanced project than mine.