Spring 2014 Biped Final Thoughts

By Kevin Huynh, Project Manager

Tasks Complete:
Alternative movement code to the one provided by projectbiped and robot poser. Alternate code includes statically stable forward walk, left turn, right turn, and obstacle avoidance code.

Remote control of ROFIA through Arxterra. ROFIA can be commanded to stand up straight, walk forward, turn left, and turn right.

Servo overcurrent protection using polyfuses.

Ideas for future classes:
Develop the ability to walk backward or to walk sideways. Add these abilities to the Arxterra control panel along with options to move the head servos.

Consider using lower torque servos for joints that do not need to rotate as much weight to minimize current consumption. For example, look at how ROFI has the higher torque servos (Power HD 1501) to control the hip, upper leg and middle legs and lower torque servos (Towerpro MG99R) to control the
knee, lower legs, and ankles.

Look into implementing an IMU board into ROFIA for active control and the ability to react to external forces.

Minimize the mass unbalance caused by the USB cable from the phone to the Arduino.

Find a way to monitor the voltage of the LiPo batteries for safety purposes.