One limitation of our current prototype is that it has many wires sticking out of it to connect the actuators to external breadboards. This poses hazard in case a live wire gets exposed. Furthermore, the wires prevent the robot from moving too far away from the electrical circuit and increases the risk of the robot tripping over the wires. If we had more time to work on the robot, we would attempt to make the robot untethered by drilling and constructing additional compartments on the body of the robot wherein to contain the circuit boards, transformers, and batteries. To accommodate the additional weight, we might have to consider adding more wheels to increase the mobility of the robot.
Another feature we can add to the robot is the ability to do turning motion. This would require alterations to the way the wheels are connected to the robot's body; we would need to install the wheels within swivel casters so that the wheels can swivel/ swerve and roll to steer changes in direction. In addition, we need to develop new sequences to the choreography of leg movements for turning motion.
Figure 23: Swivel caster
To reduce the hassle associated with the manual operation of the circuit, it would be helpful to code the motion sequence of the robot, with the ability to independently control each of the 8 actuators, into Arduino. This way, the robot can be controlled using the IR remote control. Perhaps we can program the system to begin the cycle of steps at the press of one button, continue iterating the motion sequence loop, and break the cycle at the press of another button.
Lastly, a possibility to explore for future work is for the robot to swim in water, much like a turtle (which would be a step-up from tortoise motion).
Figure 24: Upgrade from tortoise to turtle