Pressure sensors on the feet

[Zypkin]

Jon, what U did so far with this pressure sensors is interesting... but... isn't it easier just to read the load from feet's dynamixels???

I didnt try yet but as soon as the foot is charged you have a change in the load/current in the servo... so... why dont use it?

[billyzelsnack]

I've played around with load values and they just are not very sensitive IMO. I still need to do more experiments though.

[JonHylands]

The load values from the servo are only updated seven times per second, and they include both the external load from balance as well as the load imposed by the motor. The load value is really just the amount of current the motor is drawing, which varies wildly when the joint is moving.

- Jon

[Zypkin]

The load values from the servo are only updated seven times per second

7 times per second is not much... but still it shoud be enough to give a "touch" feedback.
Where did U get this info?

The load value is really just the amount of current the motor is drawing, which varies wildly when the joint is moving.

...sure, but the servo of the foot has almost not load when the leg is raised (the ankle instead has to stand the weight of the leg)... so monitoring the foot's joint you should be able to see an evident increase in current when the weight is shifted on that leg.

I'm gonna try this soon but I am currently working on the exapod which has no feet unfortunately

[JonHylands]

I got the number 7 from doing some simple experiments. If you're polling at high frequency, and you log this information on the PC, the pattern is obvious.

- Jon