Hexapod robot with ESP32 and Bluetooth control

Six-legged robot inspired by the way spiders move, with 18 degrees of freedom and Bluetooth control through an ESP32.
Hexapod robot with ESP32 and Bluetooth control - Image 1
Hexapod robot with ESP32 and Bluetooth control - Image 3
Hexapod robot with ESP32 and Bluetooth control - Image 4

SKU 7100-ESP32HEXAPODEAN 5410329329334Item type: Assembled, Kit

Description

This hexapod robot based on the ESP32 is designed to reproduce the natural movements of a spider. It has 18 servos, one for each segment of the 6 articulated legs, which are made up of three parts each and give a total of 18 degrees of freedom. The frame is sturdy but light, weighs about half a kilogram and is able to hold itself up and move steadily.

Bluetooth control from a PC or smartphone makes it simple and intuitive to drive, while the programmable firmware lets you tailor the movements to your own needs. Ideal for anyone who wants to go deeper into robotics, and for STEM teaching projects.

A 2000 mAh 7.4 V LiPo battery is needed to run it (available separately).

The Spider Robot is supplied with illustrated assembly instructions.
What you get in the Hexapod Spider Robot kit
  • The shaped Plexiglas parts that make up the robot body, plus assorted small hardware
  • The development board (7100-FT1507M) with ESP32 (8300-YB555) and two switching step-down modules (3085-MP1584ENDCDC)
  • SG90 servos (7300-SERVO206) x18
The servo used to build the Hexapod Spider Robot

Spider hexapod robot with ESP32 and 18 servomotors, Bluetooth controllable
The servo used is an SG90, a 9 g micro servo with 180° rotation and a healthy 1.2 kg/cm of torque.
The heart of the Spider Robot

Spider hexapod robot with ESP32 and 18 servomotors, Bluetooth controllable
The development board with its ESP32 MCU has two switching step-down converters on board that bring the input voltage (7-28V) down to a steady 5V, with a maximum current of 3A.
Firmware
The firmware is developed in the Arduino IDE. To set up the development environment you need to install the ESP32 package, as follows:
  1. Open the Arduino IDE and go to Settings.
  2. In Additional Boards Manager URLs, enter the following link:
    https://raw.githubusercontent.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/gh-pages/package_esp32_index.json
  3. Restart the IDE and use the Boards Manager to install the Arduino ESP32 Board package.

The Spider Robot comes with several sketches for testing the robot movements and functions, including:

  • TEST_SERVO
  • TEST_RAMP
  • TEST_LEDRGB
  • TEST_BUTTON
  • TEST_BT
  • TEST_ADC

The SPIDERBOT sketch pulls together everything the test sketches do and implements the coordinated walking of the robot.
Wireless control
The Spider Robot uses the Bluetooth built into the ESP32 so it can be driven easily from an Android smartphone or a PC. Bluetooth is easy to set up: two lines of code are enough to enable it and give the device a name. Data is handled just as it would be on a serial port, which keeps the software simple to write.

To control it, just install the free Bluetooth Electronics app from the Play Store. The app lets you build a custom dashboard to send commands to the robot and receive data back.

Technical details

Power supply 2000 mAh - 7.4 V LiPo battery
Weight 460 grams
Dimensions approx. 40x40x7 cm

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