Category Archives: Gait

OKQ1: 4DOF MX Quad Mech

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After my hiatus from competing in 2012 I have started a new mech to dominate in 2013!

OKQ1 (Off-Kilter Quad One) will be an MX servo based quad with four degree of freedom legs.

Between the end of MW 2012 and now I have been experimenting and perfecting new IK calculations, gait algorithms and control ideas.

In this first video you can see me testing my 4DOF IK calculations with a single leg. The foot is being moved in a circular motion. You can see that the final leg joint is always kept perpendicular to the ground.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He6WeLmsaYc

In this second video you can see my first test of the new gait algorithm working smoothly and accurately.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-W1z0hRlE8

As always my work is open and freely available. Take a look at my github account.

Improved Quad Walking Gait Sequence

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Second Amendment’s gait was functional and that is about it. It was clunky, mechanical looking and inefficient.

SA’s gait was very simplistic. Basically alternating diagonal sets of legs would be raised and moved. While this works it is sloppy and prone to wondering (unable to walk in straight lines). Also, due to program structure, SA was unable to both walk and turn at the same time. These things had to be improved!

Enter the ripple gait. SA is now programed with an eight step ripple gait (leg up and forward, leg down, move body forward 6x). In addition it is now possible for him to turn while walking opening a great amount of possible body translations.