Today, I worked on figuring out how to use the Arduino motor shield to control stepper motors and on the assembly of the first (official) leg prototype. I also worked on designing the feet for my walking robot. 

During the morning period, I used one of the sites I found to create the code for controlling the stepper motor using the Arduino motor shield. I succeeded in recreating the code and in uploading it to the Arduino. However, after plugging in the power source, I found out that it did not work. I tried to fix it, but my efforts availed to little results. 

While waiting for help, I worked on assembling the prototype leg for testing. This went rather well, as each piece fitted mostly where I wanted. For now, I used metal screws to put the leg together, but in the future, I plan on replacing them with nylon plastic screws. 

I also worked on the design for the feet of the robot. After assembling the prototype leg, I figured out where to attach the springs, which would work as both shock absorbers as well as components of the walking motion. 

In the end, I decided to figure out how to control the motors tomorrow. Once that is achieved, I would build a test rig and start adjusting the motion of the stepper motors to create a walking motion. Then, I would build another leg to figure out the overall walking pattern. Finally, I would work on the stair climbing and jumping part of the project.