Final Project

My immediate thoughts when told that I could create whatever I wanted for the final project was a tetrapod "spider" robot with a disco head for fun. I am not too sure I want to move forward with a disco-ball head but I do know I would like to build a four-legged robot reminiscent of insects and spiders. My love of sci-fi pushed me in this direction. At first I wanted to focus on aesthetics, but as I thought about it further and further I realized I would have to focus on parts, pieces, and mechanical components first before I attempted to design the exterior. Keeping this in mind, I shifted my focus towards planning different stages of the project using my understanding of spiral development. The intended audience for this project is myself. I've always wanted to build and design a robot so we'll see how that turns out over the next few months.

The first stage starts off simple, a central base or core with 4 legs, each housing two servos. The second stage, involves incorporating a head with a camera sensor. The third proposes upgrading the legs from double-jointed legs to triple-jointed legs allowing for more nuanced and controlled movements. The fourth and final stage proposes turning the tetrapod into a hexapod. If extra time is leftover maybe I could create a disco-ball head variant to turn it into a true party bot.

While sci-fi is what pulls me in the direction of making a a tetrapod, my real world inspiration are a few makers on YouTube that make putting together a robot look easy. There will be a list of videos below -

To further understand what I was going to be modeling, I printed some of the publicly available files of iOlly 2DOF belonging to Erik Lely.

I put the iOlly 2DOF's leg together. Once I had it built it was becoming easier to understand how the leg would function mechanically and how it was put together. Using this 2DOF(two degrees of freedom) robot as basis, I planned on using the same structural and mechanical principles for my robot.

After studying how the leg functions, I got to work on modeling a similar structure for my robots legs with the future intent of changing the overall design and incorporating my own aesthetic preferences and tweaks. I started by using calipers to measure a microservo I had around. Using Rhino as my preferred 3D modeling software I used the Polyline command in Rhino to create the servos outline. I then used the ExtrudeCrv command to make and closed polysurface or shape and then extruded some additional forms to represent the gear and cables that protrude from the servo. I modeled a rough enclosure for the servo and started modeling how the connections would come together between the leg and the swivel using the struts.

Extruding the struts was the next step for me. Both struts were forked so I extruded and duplicated the extrusions placing them on opposite ends where needed and later joined them together using basic polyline and surface extrusion commands supplemented by the trimming command. My computer failed to save the video for the last portion of the leg, but I drew up a rough outline that I extruded, mirrored, and connected via an extrusion and boolean union. Lastly, I added a sphere at the base of the leg as a way of representing where I want to add a rubber end cap to prevent any slips while walking.

After finishing the rough model, I used the Make2D command in Rhino. This command allows me to turn my 3D model into a 2D drawing. I was then able to select my drawing and use the Export Selected option to export my drawing as an .AI file to import into Illustrator. I chose to export the right and top orthographics views of the tetrapod leg.

After finishing the rough model, I used the Make2D command in Rhino. This command allows me to turn my 3D model into a 2D drawing. I was then able to select my drawing and use the Export Selected option to export my drawing as an .AI file to import into Illustrator. I chose to export the right and top orthographics views of the tetrapod leg. Importing into illustrator was really simple. It imports exactly as it looked in Rhino with all the layer lines and colors you chose to use. I started editing the line color and line weights to create a simple illustration of the legs from the right and top views. Colors were chosen to differentiate between certain parts and pieces and line weights were used to highlight what was closest and furthest away. I've included the final drawings in the last two slides.