Building Robots with LEGO® Mindstorms® NXT

Chapter 15. Building Robots That Walk

Solutions in this chapter:

• The Theory behind Walking

• Building Legs

• Building a Four-Legged Robot

• Building a Six-Legged Steering Robot

• Designing Bipeds

Introduction

So far in this book, we have discussed in depth many mobility configurations, all of them based upon one of the most important inventions of mankind: the wheel. In this chapter, we will try to emulate what nature invented long before the wheel to provide mankind with a mode of transportation—legs!

Legged robots are rather impractical for all but a few special applications. However, there is much to learn in designing and building a walking robot, which is both challenging and fascinating.

This chapter owes a lot to the great designers who published their ...