Testing of the FE Walking Robot

The early Fe team envisioned creating an energy efficient robot that was able to achieve reliable long distance walking by using passive dynamic principles. In spring 2005, the Fe team designed and constructed a bipedal walker with a telescoping leg [1] [2]. The final prototype at the end of the semester was able to walk a few steps; however, the prototype was unable to achieve this with every attempt and was not considered reliable. During fall 2005, the electrical sub team added additional sensors and re-wrote the code more efficiently. The mechanical sub team attempted to improve the robots reliability by adding a mechanical locking mechanism that aimed to regulate step size [3]. The design, machining, and implementation of the locking mechanism took longer than expected. As a result, the team was unable to test or evaluate the effectiveness of the mechanism during the fall semester. Throughout the spring semester, the team tested more frequently and documented the testing trials to increase the robot’s reliability and maximum number of steps. Most of the testing sessions were video taped, which allowed the team to watch the robots dynamics in slow motion and to gain a better understanding of the system. The robots settings were also recorded, to document conditions for the robot at a given time, for improved repeatability and organization. This paper focuses on the testing and iteration step in the design process, and it documents the evolution and results of testing during the spring semester.