MicroRaptor Begins

[JonHylands]

More work, and a new movie:

http://www.bioloid.info/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=MicroRaptor+Screenshots
http://www.bioloid.info/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=MicroRaptor+Movies

MicroRaptor took his first real step !

- Jon

[DerekZahn]

Wow, that's really impressive! Great work.

[Bullit]

Are you not using the Action command when you set Goal Position?
The servos seem to be out of sync.

[JonHylands]

I am using SYNC_WRITE, so I don't have to use the ACTION command.

The servos are all getting updated at the same time, although they move different amounts each cycle, depending on the motion plan.

- Jon

[zaboomafuu]

beautiful truly a beautiful machine. I am still a noob but I have looked at all your work. awsome cant wait to see whats next

[JonHylands]

Thanks, I appreciate it.

I just posted a new video (screen capture video) of the Operations GUI in action.

http://www.bioloid.info/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=MicroRaptor+Movies

- Jon

[JonHylands]

So, I finally decided to finish off the last few sequences needed for walking, and now MicroRaptor can walk.

Its not great walking, and it tends to turn to the right (which I can fix fairly easily, I hope). Its also not dynamically balanced yet. But it is clearly walking.

The thing I like about this is it looks sort of like real walking, with the feet tucked under the body, and taking great big strides. Last time I measured it, MicroRaptor's stride (the distance from the front of one foot to the front of the other while at full extension) was about 6", which is pretty good.

The feet are still sliding around a little, and I'm going to fix that pretty soon with some silicone pads on the bottom of his feet. Obviously, of course, this all needs to be tuned, but the plan is (once wifi is enabled and the IMU is in steady use) is that MicroRaptor will tune his walk himself.

Anyways, to see it in action, go here:

http://www.bioloid.info/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=MicroRaptor

and click on "MicroRaptor Movies". The walking one is at the bottom...

- Jon

[Pev]

Wow, nice gait. Interesting way that you have almost centered the feet and have them overlapping, with the counter balance on the tail.Very cool, and looks like a gait like that would potentially keep the cameras very stable.

Pev

[JonHylands]

Yeah, I spent a lot of time looking at biped walking gaits before I started this, and I wasn't impressed. They all slide the feet forwards and backwards, which means the body has to sway a significant amount.

My goal with MicroRaptor is for the body to be moving vertically while walking (like people do), with virtually no side sway.

You need decently wide hips for that, with long enough legs that you can do the cross-over gait. I haven't machined the proper chassis for MicroRaptor yet, but this one (the CM-5 box) puts the servos 86mm apart, and the finished chassis will put them 88mm apart, so it is almost exactly the correct geometry.

- Jon

[BillB]

Wow - very impressive. The gait works womderfully - must have taken you some time to do.

Cant wait till the next vid.

[JonHylands]

Well, your wait is over - I made a new walk sequence, using the same step sequences, but running twice as fast.

Actually, given your post time, you may have already seen them, since I put them up about 25 minutes ago.

Using the tools I have built, its actually not that hard. I basically specify a few static poses (think of them as keyframes), and the software interpolates between them to run the sequence over a specified period of time.

Two new movies up...

http://www.bioloid.info/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=MicroRaptor+Movies

- Jon

[DerekZahn]

Very impressive progress you're making already Jon! It won't be long before your beast will be tearing off the limbs of Robo-One robots! Just make sure you lock its cage, okay?

[ArnaudBuy]

Great work Jon,

Very impressed ... Currently, i'm trying to make an interface that can serve on graphically building a "logic" that is aimed to reproduce a natural comportment on a structure builded with elements provided with the bioloid kit.
Don't know if it's clear, but working on it ...

Arnaud BUY.