Design and Application of High-Sensitivity Hexapod Robot

Abstract

In recent years, with the advancement of electronic and control technologies, robots are being designed not only to perform dangerous or automated tasks, but also to serve in other fields such as education, entertainment, cleaning, security, tour guiding, and environmental exploration. Among the various types of robots, walking robots are less stable than wheeled ones. Moreover, it is also known that controllers, when required to multiplex and generate PWM signals for controlling servo actuation, may fail to handle multi-axis control and other external tasks simultaneously. Therefore, robots intended for both sensing and communication purposes are typically designed as wheeled robots rather than walking robots. This study aims to develop a low-cost walking robot that is capable of exploring the environment in a walking manner and transmitting environmental information to the computer end through a Bluetooth module. In this study, a hexapod robot is designed as a test carrier and is integrated with a single chip and a variety of sensing devices for environmental detection. The single chip is coupled with a CPLD, which controls the actuation of servos and thereby enables locomotion of the hexapod robot. More particularly, the single chip is coupled with ultrasonic sensors, infrared sensors, a biaxial accelerometer, an electronic compass, a temperature sensor, an infrared human-body sensor, and a Bluetooth module so as to realize a moving device capable of walking and high-sensitivity sensing. A digital man-machine interface is also designed in this study for transmitting information sensed by the single chip to the computer end, thus allowing a user to apply the information as needed.