Cyborg has quad-processor drive electronics.

The 'cyborg' robot currently under construction by webmaster Nicholas Lee has now had it's motor drive electronics added. Each of the four limbs has it's own flash-based PIC microcontroller. Each microcontroller implements four channels of P.I.D. motor control. The position feedback comes from potentiometer on the four-joints per limb. This analog signal is converted into a digital signal and read into the approriate micro-controller serially. The microcontrollers each produce four bi-directional P.W.M. waveforms which are fed to 3A H-bridge FET motor drivers. The micro-controllers also have inputs for touch sensors which enable each leg to know when it has it's foot on the ground.

The driver PCBs are joined with ribbon cables to the central multiplexer PCB. Currently, a twisted-pair cable links the multiplexer PCB to a PC. Windows software written in C++ sends position commands down this cable to the four micro-controllers. By instructing the joints to move to particular orientations postures can be set. Then, one click commands can choose any given learned posture. Linking postures together in sequence will enable a static walking gait.

In this photograph, the lower leg sections have been removed, just leaving the eight motors which control the four hip-joints. The four micro-controller driven motor driver PCBs are seen in the four corners (dark-green). { To see the robot with all its legs click here }

This photograph shows a close-up of two of the micro-controller boards which utilise surface mount technology on both sides of the board to keep them compact.