Timed-Vibration Quadruped Locomotion

The project

Embedded C++ firmware for a quadruped robot walking on granular terrain. I implemented a Buehler-clock gait and drove DRV2605L haptic actuators for timed vibration during leg swing phases — studying how vibration timing affects locomotion on loose substrate.

Hardware

4x Dynamixel XL-320 servos (one DOF per leg)
2x DRV2605L haptic motor drivers (front / rear pairs)
Arduino-compatible microcontroller, Li-ion battery pack
3D-printed servo mounts and leg linkages

What I built

Buehler-clock gait generator with configurable phase offsets
Haptic actuation synchronized to the swing phase of each leg
Multiple gait modes (trot, walk, bound) selectable at runtime
Real-time power-consumption monitoring over serial debug

Testbed

A wooden box filled with beads as a repeatable granular substrate — the robot walked the box while we varied vibration timing and gait, watching which combinations kept it moving instead of digging in.

Full test run on the granular medium — the timed-vibration gait carrying the quadruped across the bead bed.

Early testbed run — the quadruped over the bead trough, before the full granular trials.

Quadruped chassis on the work mat — Full chassis on the bench — four Dynamixel XL-320 servos, Arduino-compatible controller, Li-ion pack.

Side view of leg linkages and servo mounts — Leg detail — 3D-printed servo mounts driving the linkages, one DOF per leg.

Team with the robot and the granular testbed — The team with the robot and the granular testbed — a wooden box of beads standing in for loose terrain.

Team holding the finished quadruped — Final build, in hand.

Built with

Embedded C++ · Robotics · Firmware