For the RoboisE circuit, the initial plan was to use an Arduino Nano microcontroller to activate the motion sequence of the robot with an IR remote control. The microcontroller was linked to 4 relays to connect to 4 different transformers. Each transformer was connected to 2 legs of the robot. IR sensor was also connected to Arduino for wireless communication to activate the motion sequence. The entire circuit was powered by 2 Lithium Ion Battery 18650 cells with 3.5 volt and 3200 mA H each.
Figure 11: Circuit with 4 transformers and Arduino Nano
However, at a later stage of the robot's development, we realised that we need to be able to control the actuation of each actuator independently of one another. For that to be possible, 8 transformers are required for 8 independent sequences for the 8 actuators. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we did not manage to code the motion sequence of 8 independently controllable actuators into Arduino, thus, we settled for manual operation of the circuit. On top of that, we only possessed 6 transformers and not 8 so we could only actuate 3 pairs of actuators (i.e. 3 legs).
The following is our manually operated circuit with 8 switches to activate the choreographed motion sequence. The entire circuit is powered by a direct high voltage power source.
Figure 12: Manually operated circuit for independent control of each actuator
Arduino code for RoboisE circuit
Attached below
 | roboise_arduino_code_for_circuit.txt | 6 KB |