This week, we made some progress in building the third prototype of our legged walker and even managed Tom complete it this Friday. During this time, we made rather significant progress on the assembly of parts and improvement on the prototype. First, we successfully corrected the problems we encountered last week with the lengths of the legs and of the connection arms of the mechanism. For instance, we allocated more length to the connecting part of the lower leg of the walker. By doing so, we we managed to generate a walking motion through our walking mechanism. Furthermore, we also improved on parts of the body of our robot. For instance, we adapted the side of the body to be able to fit a motor onto it and refined the holes to better suit the screws that’s hold the leg on place. In addition to mechanical improvements to our walking mechanism, we have also started to work on the electronic parts of our robot. For instance, we received a tutorial on how to connect a motor shield to an Arduino. We also started on the connection between the Arduino and the remote controller. Due to the lack of time however, we were unable to make significant progress. Next week, we plan in working faster and complete the already designed dans body of the robot. Then, if everything goes according to plan, we would move on to the electronic parts.

This week, we managed to complete the final iteration of our project despite the delays and difficulties we encountered. First and foremost, had to redesign and assemble a new superstructure for the robot, for the configuration for the legs on the older body did not offer enough stability to the robot. For instance, in the old configuration, all 4 feet were located slightly more forward on the craft, which could cause the robot to fall on its back more often. In the new leg positioning, however, the back legs were reversed to face backwards and the feet were moved towards the rear of the robot. As a result, it would theoretically offer much better stability to the robot when standing. In addition to the changes to the body of the robot, we also moved the location of the motors and the wheels they powered, which were brought much closer together than before. By doing so, however, we ran into a serious problem, for the wheels were too close to each other and would interfere with each other's movement. In order to solve this issue, we lengthened the distance between the motor and the spinning wheel on the two back legs. In doing so, we eliminated the issue that the wheels would affect each others' rotation. After some troubleshooting on the configuration, we moved on to designing locking mechanisms for the joints of the legs. We tested several methods for the locking mechanism. We found that in certain areas, it was easier to just put a screw across the axle, while in other areas, the use of wood glue was required. Despite the confusing nature of this process, we managed to complete it in time. Unfortunately, when it seemed that everything was going according to plan and that the final iteration was complete, we discovered with dismay that our walker could not stand. As a result, we plan in trying to fix this issue as soon as possible before the presentation of our project on December 3rd. If we are not able to solve the problem, we plan in putting it on a fixed transparent support above ground and only showcase the walking motion. (sad... ;(    )