Edubot is a bio-inspired six legged robot that rotates compliant C-legs in a tripod fashion to produce energetic running gaits. A PD controller at each hip controls the leg’s angular position and speed which are governed by a periodic function known as the Buehler Clock. Careful gait tuning can lead to very fast and efficient locomotion and impressive performance on even the roughest terrains. Edubot, weighing in at 3 kg, is a smaller version of its parent RHex (8kg), and currently runs at a top speed of 2.42 m/s (5.4 mph).

Over the past several years, I have improved Edubot’s robustness through mechanical design. The first version of Edubot had a mechanical frame assembled from laser cut ABS parts. This required considerable assembly time to glue assemblies together and compliance in the frame eventually damaged soldered joints. To minimize repair time, I took the initiative to repackage the entire system into a more robust mechanical frame. This included an aluminum frame with ribbed structures to increase frame stiffness and reduce weight. The majority of these changes were incorporated into RespondBot RDK. I designed and manufactured every mechanical component including CNC machining the frame, motor mounts, shaft clamps, leg mounts, and laying up the carbon fiber shell and fiberglass C-legs.