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This Article will hold videos of the android testing for
all androids as I develop them.
I have encoded the videos with the DivX codec so it isn't too large, DivX is
available for free for many platforms including Windows, Linux, Mac etc. You
can get the DivX codec from:
I now have some of my walking robot and other videos on YouTube:
Android 9 - Featherweight
Here are the videos of Android 9. They are also in the
Dynamic stability testing article with a description of what's going on.
android09-001DivX.avi - 6.04Mb - right click here and select 'Save Target
As...'
android09-001.wmv
- 4.61Mb - right click here and select 'Save Target As...'
Android 6 - Hybrotron
The Android is already capable of shifting it's weight from one leg to the
other and lifting each leg in turn in a statically stable manner. This means
that timers are used to move each joint at fixed intervals and the android is
purely a 'puppet' - unaware of how far it's leaning, just following the
commands.
The android is currently being controlled from a simple program running in my
PC that sends RS232 commands at the right time. The next stage is to build in
another microcontroller to store sequences of events that can be 'played back'
when one command is received from a button, infra-red remote control or RS232.
Today, I have made a short video showing the android in action. There are
several shots of it swinging side to side and lifting each leg in turn. In
this video the android is not using it's sideways hip moving motor, it is just
bending and straightening each leg in turn which is enough to get it into a
natural swing. This is still statically stable as the timers are fixed that
tell it when to move. Just a reminder - this thing is 5'1"/155cm tall - you
can see the door to the room on the left of the shots as a size reference:
Android
6 Preliminary testing v1 DivX - 7.34Mb - right click here and select 'Save
Target As...'
The next logical step would be to measure how far it is swinging with a gyro
device and adjust the timers to keep it stable, so when it leans too far the
opposite leg is delayed from lifting so it is flat on the floor as it swings
back the other way. This will mean it tends to stabalise itself and could be
defined as dynamically stable (to some extent).
However, as the android is not totally finished it will eventually weigh more,
so the arms must be finished before too much further development is done on
balance.
Once it can reliably swing from side to side, I will get it to gradually bend
it's legs forward and backwards as one is off the ground - then it will walk
along.
16/6/05
I have now fitted new hips to the android detailed in the
construction article and now it can walk along.
IMPORTANT: The new body is currently empty and therefore very light weight, this
means that it's a little unstable and has to move quite quickly. However, this
will change when the motors for the arms and other parts are back in there.
Anyway, here's the video of it walking, it's another DivX:
Android
6 Preliminary testing v2 DivX - 3.51Mb - right click here and select 'Save
Target As...'
Android 7 - Mr Stick Legs
I have made one video of Mr Stick legs, it needs some adjustments but it
pretty much works. I will eventually be using the video sender on it's head to
send video back and also use the remote control extender feature to control
the android. It walks with only three motors so it may be practical to power
it from batteries:
Android
7 Preliminary testing v0.9 DivX - 6.27Mb - right click here and select 'Save
Target As...'
Android 3 - Discotron
Just for good measure, here's the video of Android 3 which was included in the
original article:
Android
3 testing DivX - 6.79Mb - right click here and select 'Save Target As...'
Here's a picture of all the androids having a happy time together:
