Assignment: Servo Motor: Actuation Assignment 2
Collaborators:
Description
I was originally planning to animate a pewter stingray, although my design was not efficient or powerful enough to handle the weight of the object. Second best: animate the Arduino board itself.
My project uses two servo motors mounted opposite one another. I originally modified the code to allow them to "crawl" in the same direction simultaneously (by rotating the servos in the opposite direction), but that motion turned out to be ineffective for moving the device forward. In the end, I used the original demo code ("servo_control_pot.txt") unmodified, and wired the servos both into the same output. In that way, each "leg" crawls in turn, mimicking the walking behavior of most bipedal animals.
Forward motion is achieved by using a rubber brubber taped to the back of each leg, which provides traction while pedaling forward but is not a factor when backpedaling.
Materials
Arduino
Two servo motors
Balsa legs screwed to the motors
Rubber bands taped to the legs
One potentiometer
