Sunday, December 15, 2013

Robots: Micro-Masetro Hexapod

I recently completed the Pololu Maestro hexapod design.  They did a great job with the build guide, bill of materials and the overall robot's design.  It's simple yet fairly high performing for its specs and total cost to build.  I built in a few performance upgrades including using stiff steel music wire for the legs instead of paper clips.  I bound the wire to the servo horns with poly thread and CA glue- it makes a very strong bond.  I mounted the IR sensors up a little higher using a triangular chunk of styrofoam.  I highly recommend this project if you're looking for a budget minded fun building "scratch built" style bot.  More details on the Pololu project page.  


2 comments:

Albireo said...

You mentioned using poly thread and CA glue to connect the wire legs to the servo horns. Can you elaborate on the technique you used?

Matthew said...

Hello Albireo, and thanks for your comment. The technique you ask about was very simple yet highly effective. Take your steel wire leg and roughen up the surface with sandpaper or nail file. Hold the leg in position against the servo arm and simply wrap it as tightly as you can with thread. Polyester/synthetic type thread will be a lot stronger than cotton. Once it's wrapped put a few drops of super glue on it (CA type glue, which stands for cyanoacrylete). After it dries you will have a strong bond. Here's a close up of mine: http://imgur.com/Lw9jlUk