Hexapod control and simulation

For one of the robotics modules I took in my final year of university, it used matlab and simulink to control and simulate robots. For the final report, we got to choose what we wanted to do, and I tried simulating a hexapod.

Unlike quadrupeds, the hexapod could move with a static gait, with three contact points on the ground at any point, which simplified things. Using this, the three legs in contact with the ground would push the base in the desired direction, while the other three legs would move back to the “start position”.

The hexapod would follow a given trajectory, as well as adjusting it’s body pose to remain upright when navigating over uneven terrain.

Below shows two videos; of the hexapod moving over obstacles and remaining upright and of the hexapod navigating through a (known) maze, using RRT to generate the trajectory.