hexapod

Hexapod

A family of 18-DOF, 3D-printed hexapod robots powered by an ESP32. Walk them from your phone over WiFi, or stream poses to them live from a computer. All the robots run the same firmware and gait generator. What differs is their frame, servos and dimensions.

The Robots

	Nougat	Mochi	Macaroon
Servos	18 × 21G digital	18 × MG92B micro	18 × 25 kg digital
Battery	2 × 18650 (2S1P)	2 × 18650 (2S)	4 × 18650 (2S2P)
Leg links (coxa / femur / tibia)	38 / 54 / 97 mm	36 / 44 / 85 mm	62 / 76 / 132 mm
Controller	ESP32 (Pico W legacy)	ESP32 (Pico W legacy)	ESP32
Firmware define	ROBOT_NOUGAT	ROBOT_MOCHI	ROBOT_MACAROON
WiFi SSID	hexapod_nougat	hexapod	hexapod_macaroon

Each robot’s folder has its full build guide: bill of materials, 3D-printed parts, assembly, software setup, calibration and troubleshooting.

Repository Layout

hexapod/
├── robots/                 # Hardware for each robot
│   ├── nougat/             #   README (build guide), 3d print/, images/
│   ├── mochi/
│   └── macaroon/
├── images/                 # Images shared by all robots
└── software/
    ├── hexapod_esp32/      # ESP32 firmware (Arduino sketch), shared by all robots
    │   ├── robot.h         #   Pick the robot you are building here
    │   └── src/robots/     #   Per-robot settings and generated motion tables
    ├── package_esp32.py    # Packages the ESP32 sketch into one copy per robot
    ├── hexapod_pico/       # Legacy Raspberry Pi Pico firmware (unmaintained)
    └── path_tool/          # Gait generator that produces the motion tables
        └── robots/         #   Per-robot geometry and gait parameters (JSON)

Quick Start

1. Build the robot by following its guide in robots/.
2. Open software/hexapod_esp32/hexapod_esp32.ino in the Arduino IDE.
3. In robot.h, leave only your robot’s #define ROBOT_* uncommented.
4. Upload, join the robot’s WiFi network and calibrate it at http://192.168.4.1.

To skip step 3, download hexapod_<robot>_<version>.zip from the releases: a copy of the sketch with your robot already selected. python software/package_esp32.py builds the same zips locally into dist/.

The ESP32 firmware README covers setup, the UDP protocol and OTA updates. The path tool README explains how the motion tables are generated and how to add a new robot.

License

GPL-3.0

Support

• Website: rookidroid.com
• Issues: GitHub Issues
• E-mail: [email protected]