ANT BEHAVIOUR - In order to give Dino the look and feel of the real bulldog ant, we need to build into the design, the ability to perform those functions.

ANTICS - SITTING & JUMPING

In order to mimic some of the natural movements of an ant, we will have to modify the standard transmission so that we have more control over each limb individually. Fortunately, this is possible without resorting to hydraulics or without the need to radically depart from the transmission that we need for ordinary locomotion. It is an add on - that at the moment we are not keen to show anyone how it works. Just in case Jameson Hunter want the additional protection of a patent. Sorry.

There are some seriously complicated motor/drive arrangements that are trying to achieve the movement we are aiming for, such as 'Hector', from Bielefeld University in Germany, seen below.

We hope to achieve a similar level of adjustment to rough ground, without using much in the way of computing power, and more in the way of mechanical design adaptation. The object is to keep the transmission as simple, hence, as rugged and as economical as possible. KISS

HECTOR - The Biomechatronics research group of Bielefeld University, led by Prof. Dr. Axel Schneider, developed this six-legged walking robot using a stick insect as a model. For the design, the insect's measurements were increased by a factor of about 20. The total length of the robot is roughly 90 cm and weighs 12kg. They say it's a giant stick insect, but it looks more like an ant or a beetle. The project's goal was to better understand the gait of insects and make the underlying coordination principles usable for technical systems. The research team also wanted to investigate fundamental concepts for controlling elastically actuated robotic systems. Now this is something we are also looking at.

Hector's extremely light exoskeleton consists of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). All drive parts and the connections between the leg segments were designed and fabricated in-house in Bielefeld. The legs are made of aluminum alloy, as are ours. The unique features of this robot are the multitude of sensors with which it is equipped and its biologically inspired, decentralized control principle. With its specially designed drives and sensors, it can adapt to the ground conditions while walking - albeit rather slowly. Hector is currently capable of negotiating slightly uneven terrain and overcomes smaller obstacles, such as steps, without difficulty. Our objective is to cope with seriously uneven ground.

As you can see from the picture above, each leg of the walking robot has three joints, so that the movements of 18 joints have to be controlled simultaneously. Each joint is equipped with a brushless Maxon EC 45 (flat) motor. These 50 watt drives are custom units without a lateral connection board. The 18 leg joints are controlled using biologically inspired algorithms, much the same as Dino the DinoBot. Eighteen motors x 50w = 900w or 1.2hp. That's a lot of power in a lightweight robot for not a lot of speed. Granted that all of the motors are not operating all of the time. We assume that Hector can travel faster than seen in the videos.

LEG MASS v COST - Aluminium legs in 28.5mm tubing is likely to be around £35 + delivery, whereas, titanium in 25 and 19mm tubing will run to £138 + delivery. The price for carbon fibre will be significantly higher because of the moulds, but we need leg patterns anyway for film special effects. Please note that this photograph is copyright © Jameson Hunter Ltd 2015. You will need permission from Jameson Hunter to be able to reproduce it. 

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