Hexapod
An Java OpenGL simulator of a 6 legged crab robot
About
My first robot was a hexapod (crab robot). I didn’t know how to make it walk. Nobody was sharing their code, either.
I didn’t want to break 18 $15 servos the first time it tried to stand up. I knew how to write video games, so I loaded my crab design into an empty world and taught it to walk there.
This program is that simulation, open source and free of charge. I hope you find it useful!
It was living on sourceforge for a long time and nobody could find or use it. It also ran in SDL and all my new stuff runs in Java, so I ported it over. New bugs may have snuck in.
Get it
h2. Make it
h2. Use it
OSX users should be able to run with start.command.
Win32 users should be able to run with start32.bat.
Win64 users should be able to run with start64.bat.
general commands
When the program begins, click once in the window so it can hear keyboard instructions.
While holding the right mouse button:
- WASDQE will fly the camera
- moving the mouse will turn the camera
When the program starts you are in calibration mode. There are several modes:
- calibration
- sit down
- stand up
- move body
- ripple walk (one leg at a time)
- wave walk (two legs at a time)
- tripod walk (three legs at a time)
period and comma will cycle through the modes.
calibration mode
This mode is for calibrating the servos on the real robot. It’s mostly useless at present.
sit down
Robot sits down and returns to startup position.
stand up
Robot plants all feet and moves body to be between the feet.
move body
WASDQE will move the body without moving the toes.
ZXCVRF will rotate the body without moving the toes.
B will return the body to center and level.
You do not have to return the body to center position to walk.
ripple walk
h3. wave walk
h3. tripod walk
- WS walk forward and backward
- AD walk sideways (strafe)
- QE raise and lower the body
- RF turn while walking.
Report a bug
Please use the github issue tracker in this project to see known bugs and add your findings.
Get help
Please visit the forums
To run the project in eclipse
- Choose File > Import > General > Existing Projects into Workspace and select “Next”.
- Choose “Browse” next to “Select root directory” and select the root folder of your download/clone from github.
- eclipse will scan the folder and find the project. Choose “Finish”
This project has been developed with the 1.7 JDK. You can find out more about it here:
- http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6267392/how-do-i-use-jdk-7-on-mac-osx
- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html
This project has been developed with JOGL as a library. You can find out more about it here:
- https://jogamp.org/wiki/index.php/Downloading_and_installing_JOGL
- https://jogamp.org/wiki/index.php/Setting_up_a_JogAmp_project_in_your_favorite_IDE#Eclipse_IDE_project
More details are available in the forums.