Phoenix Hexapod

[gfish]

My RC hexapod arrived last week, and I assembled it over the weekend.

The servos still need some fine calibration, but it works quite well even as it is. It's a very nice design, and while maybe not worth what I paid for it in any rational sense, I don't regret the purchase. Most importantly, it will serve its intended purpose as a research platform nicely. Because, see, I want to build another one.

I want to build one I can ride on. And I've almost convinced myself that this is feasible. Stay tuned...

Comments

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

Actually in theory you could just add scaled relay/servo control to an existing hexapod controller to run the larger systems. Nothing says you have to reinvent the wheel. :-)

If you do want to reinvent the wheel for some reason I'm thinking homebrew CNC controllers hung off the initial control unit would allow you control of all six axis and actuators. In fact that makes it very good for fly-by-wire in that you have a computer that spits out G-Code to the CNC controllers that control the servos and actuators as if they are XYZ+tool changers.

I still think welded tube steel will be too heavy but you're a math person and I'm not. My choice for an initial build would be to use surplus 80/20 (similar to this: http://hackaday.com/2010/12/14/my-reprap-is-bigger-than-yours/ - search E-Bay for "80/20 garage sale") for as much as possible and then use welded aluminum tubing for the rest.

With something this size weight is one of the biggest limiting factors in regards to both speed of movement and power requirements.

Please take all of this with a huge block of salt as I'm in no way formally trained in physics. Just a long-time tinkerer/thinker/dreamer.