LEGO Biped Project

[rlowerr_1]

Ok it’s time for another update after working on this thing early in the morning until late at night for the last few days.

After much messing around with trying to fit two motors/lower gear ratios in the leg assemblies I gave up and decided to give pneumatics a shot. This is the first time I have used pneumatics in one of my projects, but the result I have received from them is quite pleasing.

From this shot you can see all the changes. The first most notable one is that her legs got a lot longer. This was done to allow the pistons to be mounted and to give more room in the leg for the pneumatic pump/switch gearbox. Also you see that the feet have taken on a wider shape for more balance when the robot shifts its weight.

Looking at this picture shows you what used to be a major problem, or what I though was a major problem. When the robot tries to go from standing position (both feet on ground) to balancing position (balancing over one foot) instead of lifting the robot over one foot, the robot gets on its “tip toes”. At first I thought the project was toast, but after a break from LEGOS I came back and quickly realized that when one leg was on its “tip toes” it shifted the weight of the RCX just a little bit over the other leg, allowing that leg to tilt the robot over itself.

You can see the robot balancing on one leg in this shot. Its hard to tell in the picture but the left foot is about an inch off the ground.

All that is left to due is make two motor mounds to drive the pump/switch assemblies and it should be ready to take a test step!