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We decided that making the system above with variable stroke mechanisms on every leg would be too difficult to redesign without pulleys, so we took a look back at some of earlier designs.  Our early simulation work using a Klann linkage demonstrated that we could get stable, but very bumpy walking behavior with a klann linkage, however we could not turn. One way we could turn is if we were to rotate the front legs with respect to the body, however, this would necessitate a CV joint to transmit power to the back legs. To simplify things and make the system more stable, we got rid of the back legs. We made the links out of hand-cut lexan plastic and the joints out of 1/8" steel shaft with washers and retaining rings. To make our links, we printed out drawings of the link shapes we want from our CAD tools, cut the drawing out of paper and used it as a template to mark cut locations and center punch hole locations into the material. We used a faulhaber 2224 motor with a 14:1 gearbox to actuate the legs and used a standard hobby servo for steering.

Videos:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0Bzkdz1bVRM_8b2VMM202NHo4ZE0&usp=sharing

Recommendations for future teams building walking robots

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