The balence gesture algorithm is the basis of the gait and terain adaptation for our hexapod robots. I have recently added a "balence gesture" section to the robotics menu.

Click the link above to take a look at the interactive demo.

Enjoy!

I did enjoy thank you :) things just keep getting better around here! ... did a quick google wondering if this is a widely known algorithm, or something you have invented, but none the wiser ;) So it is spring simulations acting upon the box, and very well damped? Do you use this algorithm on hexapod to enable it to to stay balanced? and it works? How does it differ from an Inverse Kinematics solution? Would it work for a balancing biped? Nahhh sounds too unlikely! I'm soooo interested in this stuff .. I confide that (as I find the time) I have been implementing a full on 3D physics engine targetted at PIC, I guess you might imagine how it could be applied to animatronics! have attached ((very)tenuously) related link ;)

Hi Sandy,

Check out the terain adaptation post. This will take you to the paper that the balence gesture algo is based on.

The balence gesture algo is used just for body gestures and terain adaptation. Ik is used on each leg for tarsus positioning. I will try to explain a bit more when I have time.

Will check out your link soon, as I am currently sat in a cafe in Byron Bay.

Cheers

Matt.

Hey Sandy,

I love the ragdoll demo... great! Looks like you have put alot of work into it.

Would love to know more about how you plan to use it within PIC's

Matt.

Hi Matt, oops - I didn't write the ragdoll demo I posted the link to, (I note that is was some other anonymous!) I didn't mean to imply so... It is good fun though! I do have a ragdoll simulation of my own however, which behaves just the same, only better (if modesty permits) since it is 3D rather than just 2D, and the environment can be made of arbitrary meshes. I don't have a playable demo I can easily post unfortunately, but I will try to post an AVI at some point if you are interested to see. Thing is my own physics code was originally integer based (people don't write code like that any more, it's all floats, GPUs and C++) , and I've figured that I could wedge it into a DSPIC... only, in a way, it is a solution looking for a problem. I have for a long time been thinking to apply it to CG animation (non-PIC version ) - why not animatronics... That aside, I got inspired seeing your use of what looks like a highly damped physics simulation to do terrain adaption... (haven't read that paper yet) so wondering, in a half-baked sort of a way, what a full physics engine might be able to do, esp if inside a PIC with servo drivers etc... sorry about long time replying... I have used the airplane emoticon travel indicator, (ahem) even though I was only in Weymouth! (we can't all be jet-setting accross Australia - Britain would come to a halt ;) mmmm lovely country (OZ) though...

Found this very old avi, sorry its 900k and crap quality... but gives an idea... written in C++ using directX 6 (shows how old it is). Its was only a 200Mhz Pentium running it!

Very Cool!

Would love to have the time to get into some of that kind of stuff one day. I would like to write a visual front end to my hexapod engine which would require some physics i think. Maybe I should get in touch with you when I eventually get around to it.

Is this stuff on your website?

Cheers, alas it is not on my website. I've thought about turning it into a Java3D applet, or Flash 3D maybe, even thought about using it for the basis of an open-source physics engine project under GNU, but its finding the time. Sadly, almost everything I do these days has to have some kind of money-generating angle! By all means get in touch if you get started on your 'front end' - oooh - I just noticed that your hexapod graphic bottom left follows my mouse pointer... is that a series of pre-rendered frames? - looks like you are no slouch regarding web programming! I'm curious to know what your balance gesture and ik demos written with... Is this forum running in Flash?

Yes the robot is a series of pre-rendered frames. All of the demo's and robot are written in flash. The forum is also flash, but this is a widget that comes with moonfruit which is the kit used to build the site. I'm not to keen on the forum widget.. but it will do for now.

I'm very new to flash programming, so I'm updating my demos and other widgets as I learn new tricks. I really wanted to do the robot as a true 3D flash object, but have not yet figured out how. If you have any idea... let me know ;)

I felt sure I'd once seen a 3d engine for flash... but couldn't find any working examples. I found plenty of stuff on the web in fact saying that flash is crap at 3D :( I did find the link above, but haven't had time to see what its all about.).. I'm certain you could do it in a java applet...