Walker Project [ Parts List ]

During my final semester in college, I started a project which will ultimately be a 20 DOF(degrees of freedom, or joints) sensors / user controlled Semi-Autonomous biped robot.

Unfortunately, as a student I couldn't afford all the components I needed to complete the project. Just to give you an idea, a laser sensor costs a whoppin' $2G minimum, and that's without the acquisition hardware to go with it. Bottom line: pretty damn expensive!

So I decided to buy basic parts and purchase add-ons as I become... more funded =]
Fortunately, I received $1000 in grants and bursary so I had enough to get started - a 10 DOF biped robot with one sensor should be a good place to start.

What I bought:

*screenshots are taken from robotshop.ca*

Also I purchased a few components from Digi-Key to build a battery recharging circuit. I did complete the circuit and it is functional - however, I could not get my old microcontroller (PIC18f452) to function properly with the limited hardware I have... meaning I must manually time out the recharge process to avoid overcharging the battery. If Li-MH is overcharged.. out comes hydrogen which can burn your house down!

So, definitely needs more work(and $$$) - but it will do for now.

I am still expecting the shipment of the last few items to complete the assembly. (I will post pics when that happens)

Once I have them I should be ready to start programming Walker (Yea that's right. I have a name for my robot)