VII-Conclusion and Further Work

Overall, I was very satisfied with how my mechanism turned out, but I was also pleased with the design and manufacturing techniques I have learned along the way. The first priority in the mechanism's design was to ensure the path of the "foot" followed the desired walking semicircular trajectory. The final mechanism certainly accomplished this task and exhibited the desired path, as can be seen in the final video presentation in the previous section. While the mechanism was also very smooth in the end, I am a bit frustrated with the low torque of the geared motor I had—the electrification of Bionic Bevo's leg will have to wait for another day. I hope to potentially motorize and replace all four of Bevo's legs with this six-bar mechanism, such that he can move smoothly further down the "pasture." 

All jokes aside, this was an incredible learning experience. I enjoyed simulating the mechanisms I found through research and validating the output data with a physical model of the original design. As mentioned above, I would like to experiment with more legs and motors to create a truly smooth or level walking robot. Additionally, the joints on the mechanism can be improved with links that are 3D printed with interference fits for bearings to reduce the friction between the bolts and wooden links even further. All in all, the process of creating something from end to end was incredibly rewarding, especially when it moved as it was designed to!