Devlog 1 - A Working Leg + Change of Plans (?)

So, after doing research, I’ve realized that this project might be unfeasible in its current state. The reason for this is that, to put it simply, my servos are too large. See, most hexapods utilize much smaller mini-sized servos, whereas mine are larger. At this scale, the downsides of using servo motors become much more apparent, such as limitations with stall torque and what is required to power 18 separate motors. Building five more legs would be both expensive and could result in a fundamentally flawed robot.

However, I couldn’t build all this and spend well over $100 for 0 results. So after calibrating my joints, buying a functional battery, and flashing code into the Arduino, I was able to get a working demo of (at least) the single-leg controller. There’s a simple walk cycle, as well as the ability to move the foot along three axes.

So… what now?

Going forward, I want to continue using what I’ve built without having to create something from scratch. One idea would be to create a wheeled robot, modify this leg into a robot arm, and attach it to the wheeled robot as a little picker-upper. Another idea involves going all-in on the robot arm idea and building a physical controller whose movements are mirrored by the arm.

Some transparency

AI was used in programming both the PC-to-Arduino control program and the Arduino firmware. However, I created the skeleton code for the Arduino controller as well as deriving the inverse-kinematics math used to calculate the joint angles.

Going forward, I plan to use AI in a more advisory role to help with debugging instead of having it write the project’s control logic myself.

Devlog 0 - Everything I’ve worked on so far

So for a quick rundown, back in December of 2024, I decided to stop being a bum and actually build a cool robot that I could show to other people!

The idea was to build a hexapod (six-legged) robot completely from scratch. Currently, I’ve designed and fabricated a prototype for one leg and created a small program to control its movement in 3D space.

I’m looking to get funding to help purchase parts (mainly the 15 servo motors required for the rest of the six legs), and to accomplish the rest of my goals for this project which are as follows:

1. Improve the leg’s design to be easier to assemble and 3D print
2. Build an interface connecting a computer to the robot for wireless communication and to control its movement
3. Design and create a custom PCB that will allow for the above (and to control the 18 servo motors)
4. Improve the design for the body of the robot itself