Pololu Sample Project: Simple Hexapod Walker, Руководство пользователя

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4. Sequencing the Hexapod Gait
Gaits
Now that you have constructed your hexapod, it is time to make it walk. A method of walking
forward with legs is called a
gait , and animals or robots with many degrees of freedom have
a variety of gaits available – humans can walk, run, hop, or skip; horses can walk, trot,
canter, or gallop, and so on. Your hexapod is so simple that it has just one possible gait for
forward motion, called the
tripod gait .
In the tripod gait, your hexapod has three feet in contact with the ground at all times: the
front and back legs on one side and the middle leg on the other side. The angle of the middle
servo determines which side is up and which side is down. It achieves forward motion by
pushing those feet backwards against the ground while the other feet move forward through
the air. Then the hexapod shifts its weight to the other three feet and moves forward in the
same way. By continuously shifting its weight using the middle legs, then moving the raised
feet forward, it walks forward.
Walking forward with the Maestro Control Center
You can easily assemble motion sequences using the Maestro Control Center’s sequencer
feature. For documentation on the sequencer, see
Section 4.c
of the
Micro Maestro
User’s Guide
[http://www.pololu.com/docs/0J40]
.
Use the controls on the Status tab of the Maestro Control center to move your hexapod
to each of these four positions, pressing the “Save Frame” button after each, to save a
sequence.
Sample Project: Simple Hexapod Walker © 2001–2010 Pololu Corporation
4. Sequencing the Hexapod Gait Page 15 of 21