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e-nuvo WALK ver 2.5 is THE bipedal
walking robot that permits you to put into practice the technologies
you learned with the other models(BASIC, ARM, WHEEL).With
its distributed processing structure composed of 4 CPUS and
12 Joints (motors- degrees of freedom), this robot is the
most suitable for purposes that go from teaching to research.We
concentrate on controlling
the whole system with a PC, system that consists of serial
links similar to our robot ARM. We
also have started producing an alternative version with the
exterior covering of nuvo that joins together the educational
value of e-nuvo and the futuristic design style of nuvo!
e-nuvo WALK (formerly known simply
as e-nuvo ver 2.5) has -we are pleased to say it- been very
much well received since it was presented to the public in
2004 and promoted as one of the most suitable tools for engineering
education. Today more than 300 units are being used both in
Japan and overseas, in universities, colleges, technical highschools,
and industry laboratories. Although developed for educational
purposes, its versatility makes it appropriate not only for
education but also for research on walking, and for your business
as well.
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e-nuvo WALK is a robot with
6 joints on each leg (making it 12 joints in total.)
Since each Joint has one motor and represents one DOF
(Degree of Freedom) we can also say that e-nuvo WALK
is a bipedal walking robot with 12 DOF's. The Joints
are two in the ankle (ROLL and PITCH movements), one
on the knee (only PITCH movement) and three on the hip
(ROLL, PITCH and YAW). The position of the motors can
be seen in the graphic below.
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e-nuvo WALK has a distributed
control architecture, based on three kinds of microprocessors.
The PC microprocessor acts as the robot's brain therefore
controlling the motion patterns of the robot. The Main
CPU (in the robot) acts like the bridge between
the serial cable (coming from the PC) and the robot's
CAN network. The SubCPU's are in charge
of the low level control of the motors and the sensor
data capturing.
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| e-nuvo WALK's system is a distributed
controlled system composed of three layers (PC, Main CPU,
Sub-CPU) with processes running on all of them. In this
part we are going to explain the software processes of
the PC side of the e-nuvo WALK architecture. The PC acting
as e-nuvo's brain is in charge of the execution of motion
patterns by transmitting these to the robot. The robot,
once it receives these patterns, executes them with its
two legs. |
The e-nuvo DLL is a package of control and communication
functions for the robot. These functions are in charge
of the communication between PC and robot, so that the
user commands can be converted in a format that is understood
by the low-level Sub-CPUs.
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| This is the API function library
that the user utilize when writing his/her own programs
for the robot. (API: Application Programming Interface)
The robot can be programmed using both Visual C++ or Visual
BASIC (both from the Windows [.NET framework]) Each and
everyone of these API functions are explained in the User
Manual of the robot in a easy-to-understand format. The
Set also comes with a set of example programs which permit
the user to start programming their robot immediately
after getting them |
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| Built using Visual BASIC, the
e-nuvo GUI is a GUI tool for intuitively operating the
robot. Although you can completely control and program
the robot using the e-nuvo API, the e-nuvo GUI provides
a convenient way to all the basic operations the user
can require. Among its multiple functionalities we can
name: Initialization and Calibration of the robot, Motors'
PID parameters setup, Motion File Execution, Sensor data
log (CSV and Matlab's .M formats), etc. The source code
of the e-nuvo GUI is open source, so that the user can
use it for reference to construct his own programs, or
even improve it! |
| These are textfiles that specify
the motions of e-nuvo WALK. The format of these files
are CSV files that describe the 12 angles of the robot,
and therefore can be easily modified with any editor or
spreadsheet. |
| Although the motion files can
be modified with an editor the Set comes with an convenient
tool for building Motion Files. This tool is called "Motion
Maker." First the user prepares several "Poses"
(describing the angles of the 12 angles of the robot at
a particular instant) and based on these poses, the Motion
Maker works as an interpolator to build the corresponding
motion file. So far, these tool uses linear interpolation. |
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| Since the Motion Files are simple
CSV text files, Motion Maker is not the only way to built
these files. The user can freely use other tools or make
their own to make new motions. Included in the Set, we
provide also several MATLAB M-File Scripts, that permit
the user to build Motion Files using the poweful features
of MATLAB, which includes interpolation methods other
than just linear: spline, trigonometric, etc. This allows
the user to build smoother motions than the ones built
with the Motion Maker. Also included is a walking pattern
generator that doesn't use pose interpolation. All these
methods provide the student with many different tools
to learn and research into the field of bipedal motion |
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| A bipedal walking robot represents
an opportunity to apply all what we have learned with
the other e-nuvo Series robots. By reviewing what he/she
has learned with BASIC, ARM or WHEEL, with this robot,
the student can concentrate on a superior layer of learning.
The textbooks WA-1 and WA-2 are going to be issued consecutively
but in the meantime, the robot is being packed with the
original Robot Guidebook. |
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BIPEDAL ROBOT PROGRAMMING
First this book reviews our previous knowledge, taking
as a framework the different systems that form e-nuvo
WALK: The mechanical harware, the electronic system,
and the control system. Then the book explains how to
create new motions for the robot using the Motion Maker.
Finally the method using MATLAB to generate new motions
as well as how to program the robots in Visual BASIC
or C++ is explained. Scheduled for late 2006.
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BIPEDAL ROBOT MODELING AND CONTROL
Dynamical System Analysis using Simulink to model
the robot is covered in this book. Currently under development
in collaboration with Cybernet Systems (The MathWorks
representative in Japan) Scheduled for 2007 |
ORIGINAL e-nuvo 2.5 GUIDEBOOK
Currently all e-nuvo WALKs are being shipped with the
Original practical User guide which explains in a detailed
way, all what is necessary for programming and working
with e-nuvo WALK. A different 300 page book which contains
also mechanics, electronics and control engineering chapters
is available in Japanese and Chinese (Simplified) |
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| The e-nuvo WALK set comes with
a number of sample motions . Using Motion Maker or the
MATLAB scripts the user can make his/her own motions as
well. Examples of motions can be seen in the following
movies: |
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