Jeb is a quadruped robot that the code in this repository is designed to control. Quadruped robots are robots with four legs. Jeb is designed with three degrees of freedom per leg. Each leg is actuated by three servos. The first servo moves the leg forward/backward, the second servo moves the leg up and down, and the third servo bends the leg in the middle. With four legs and three servos per leg, the robot is driven by 12 servos in total.
The parts necessary to build the robot's frame can be found in the frame directory of this repository. The frame is design to be 3D printed.
The code in this repository was originally developed by GitHub user KurtE. The source of this fork is: https://github.com/KurtE/Arduino_Phoenix_Parts.
Generally speaking, a quadruped robot's electronics system has three main subsystems: the microcontroller, server controller, and control input.
This code assumes that the quadruped uses the following electronics systems:
- The microcontroller is a Botboarduino from Lynxmotion.
- The servo controller is an SSC-32U from Lynxmotion.
- For input the robot uses a wireless Platstation 2 controller like one from Lynxmotion
This repository also includes a library for using NeoPixel LED lighting products from Adafruit. NeoPixels, which come in a variety of shapes and sizes allow the easy addition of lighting effects or visual feedback to the robot. Jeb uses a 16 LED NeoPixel ring for the eye.
Quadruped robots use a total of 12 servos. Since the robot itself can be quite heavy depending upon the construction, it is important to equip the robot with servos that are strong enough to support the robot's weight. Servos which provide at least 8 kg/cm of torque are recommended.
The robot's frame is constructed from 3D printed materials; the exact material used is not particularly important. The design files for the frame can be found in the frame directory of this repository.
To use this code you need to copy each of the folders inside the libraries directory into your Arduino Library directory.
In the Arduino IDE, open Quad_PS2_SSC32.ino. Customize the code as needed to suit your robot's geometry and supplemental hardware (like LEDs).