A Minimally Autonomous Robot Walker

This paper presents the design, fabrication and programming of a four-legged walker driven by two actuators that includes a set of infra-red sensors for line following. It is designed to be used in the study of minimally autonomous systems, which are robots intended to complete specific tasks. The leg mechanisms, motor drive, control system and infra-red sensor system for path-following are presented with a demonstration of its operation. The walker has been developed for use in a 10-week robot kinematics course, in which student teams design, build and test their own walker.