Foot And Leg Trajectory Basic Test

Creating a .RC file (This text file holds all the trajectory settings)

• This file should be securly copied to bailorgana, so its easiest to use Matlab on the Linux machines
• Open Matlab and find a copy of the profile generating code
  • The latest versions are stored on chewie at /users/Software/LegTestCode/
  • FourBar_Tilt.m - allows you to select velocity and tilt profiles for the 2 motors
    • This file requires the GUI interface file FourBar_Tilt.fig to work
    • 1. Enter the velocity in hertz for the leg period
    • 2. Enter the velocity profile (press ENTER to stop adding points)
    • 3. Click the Update button to adjust the profile to fit the given velocity
    • 4. Enter the tilt profile
    • 5. Save the file
    • The .RC file should be named profile_gait.rc to be used by the program legprofile_test2 on the stack
    • Note: Bad profile selection can result in jittery motor control (ie. could damage leg/foot prototype)
    • Note: Try to select points evenly spaced on the phase axis (This translates to more evenly spaced times)
    • Note: If you are having difficulty with jitter, try adjusting the smoothing value in the .RC file to be smaller than the time spacings
  • FourBar_PosVel.m - allows you to select a constant leg velocity for the 4-bar motor and sinusoidal parameters for the tilt motor
    • 1. Enter the velocity in hertz for the leg period
    • 2. Enter the base angle offset for the tilt motor
    • 3. Enter the amplitude of the tilt sin wave in degrees
    • 4. Enter the phase offset for the tilt motor in degrees
    • 5. Enter the test duration
    • Two plots will pop up, one showing the approximate 3D trajectory relative to the body, the other showing the trajectory for the tilt motor
    • 6. Save the .RC file
    • The .RC file should be named poscontrol_test.rc to be used by the program poscontrol2 on the stack
    • Note: The control works very well, and is fairly straight-forward
    • Note: This program has less control of the leg trajectory, but its easier to generate "safe" files to run
• Copy the .RC file to bailorgana
  • Use the scp command to securely copy the .RC file to bailorgana
    • Usage: scp {filename} {username}@{hostname}:{folder}
    • Eg. scp profile_gait.rc rhex@bailorgana:users/amcclung/LegTestCode01
    • Edit the script copy2bailorgana.sh to automate the process and copy specific files
• Note: If necessary use emacs or vi to edit the .RC

Start the test

• Go to the directory with the test code on bailorgana
  • This is currently /home/rhex/users/amcclung/LegTestCode01
• Switch users to the root user
  • To switch users, use su root or just su and then enter the password, type exit when you're done
• (VER 3 and previous) Adjust the leg (both tilt and 4-bar position) to initial position
  • The initial position will be used as the start position for the profile
• (VER 4 and higher) Place the hard stops on the setup for calibration
  • You may want to edit the calibration variables to set your initial position (see below)
• Execute the program from the current directory (ie. ./poscontrol_test2)
  • POSCONTROL_TEST2
    • This program gives a constant velocity to the 4 bar linkage motor. The tilt motor is given a sinusoidal signal.
    • This file reads poscontrol_test.rc for profile values
  • LEGPROFILE_TEST2
    • This program allows for varying velocities to the 4 bar linkage motor. The tilt motor position can be selected for the full period.
    • This file reads profile_gait.rc for the trajectories and legprofile_test.rc for the test duration
    • Edit legprofile_test.rc to change the test length
  • All executables currently use position control for the motors
• (VER 4 and higher) The calibration routine starts instantly and sets the motor to the initial position
  • Once the calibration is finished, the program will PAUSE and wait for user input
• (VER 4 and higher) Remove the hard stops once the calibration is done
  • If you do not REMOVE the stops, you can damage the leg setup
  • Press any key to continue to START the test, AFTER you remove the stops
• After everything has been initialized (& calibrated) for the test, the progam PAUSES until the user presses a key.
• The test profile is executed (looped) for the length specified by the related .RC file
• NOTE: Press Ctrl-C to stop the test at any time
• Latest versions: LEGPROFILE_TEST6 , POSCONTROL_TEST6
  • Additions: Faster, manual calibration routine

• Variables :
  • poscontrol_final_time - the time length of the test [Units: seconds]
  • For POSCONTROL versions
    • poscontrol_period - the period for the leg trajectory [Units: seconds]
    • poscontrol_leg_speed - the velocity for the CRANK motor [Units: rads/sec]
    • poscontrol_angle_offset - the base WING offset from the initial position for the cos signal to the WING motor [Units: degrees]
    • poscontrol_amplitude - the amplitude of the cos signal to the WING motor [Units: degrees]
    • poscontrol_time_offset - the spatial offset for the start of the cos relative to the start of the period [Units: degrees]
  • For LEGPROFILE versions - The variables are defined by the designated Matlab script and placed in profile_gait.rc, see Trey if you are interested in manually editing these

• Notes :
  • For LEGPROFILE_TEST5, the variables are contained within legprofile_test.rc, which is a relatively static file in the working directory. To statically change the variables, use emacs or vi to edit the .RC
  • For POSCONTROL_TEST5, the variables are contained within poscontrol_test.rc, which is produced each time FourBar_PosVel.m is used to produce trajectories. To statically change the variables, edit the Matlab script to output different values for subsequent RC files.

Please add notes as the testing procedure evolves

NOTE: See FootAndLegTrajectoryTestingProcedure for complete testing details

-- AMcClung? - 15 Apr 2004