Robotics

Robotic Spider Platform

A modular legged-robotics platform using staged prototypes to test actuator packaging, power distribution, embedded control, and future perception support.

Active prototype Robotics Mechatronics Motor Control DepthAI CAD Power Systems Prototyping
Robotic Spider Platform
8-leg target platform
4 DOF per leg target
Prototype-based development
V2 actuator testbench active

Overview

Project Summary

The Robotic Spider Platform is an ongoing robotics project built through separate prototype branches instead of one overloaded build page. Each profile focuses on a specific stage or subsystem: early leg concepts, V2 actuator and power testing, perception experiments, thermal fixes, and future full-body integration.

Project branches

Prototype Profiles

NearDivine Labs

Prototype Branch

Archived / early concept

V1 Servo Concept

Early spider-robot direction focused on hobby servo control, basic leg movement, and understanding the scale of the mechanical/control problem.

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V2 Actuator and Power Testbench project profile thumbnail

Prototype Branch

Active prototype

V2 Actuator and Power Testbench

A staged V2 prototype focused on actuator packaging, gear and bearing layouts, power-distribution testing, and motor-control wiring before full-body assembly.

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DepthAI Perception and Cooling Bench project profile thumbnail

Subsystem Profile

Bench-tested

DepthAI Perception and Cooling Bench

A perception-side bench profile covering DepthAI / OAK-D stereo output testing and the USB-powered cooling fix built after the camera began overheating.

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What I built

I am building a modular robotic spider platform through staged prototypes. The project is not one finished robot yet. The current work is split into separate profiles for leg mechanics, actuator testing, power distribution, perception experiments, and future autonomy support.

Why I built it

A spider-style robot forces several hard systems to work together: mechanical design, actuator sizing, power delivery, control electronics, feedback sensing, gait logic, and eventually perception. Splitting the project into profiles keeps the documentation readable and makes each subsystem easier to evaluate.

System

Core Hardware

Target platform 8-legged robot with 4 DOF per leg
Current direction Single repeatable leg module before full-body scaling
Mechanical focus Printed actuator mounts, bearings, shafts, gears, and leg-joint packaging
Power focus LiPo battery, XT connector, inline switch, bus bar, and distributed wiring
Control focus Motor-control testing and future modular leg-controller architecture
Perception focus OAK-D / DepthAI stereo vision experiments

Build process

What I Personally Did

Defined the target platform around an 8-leg robot with 4 DOF per leg
Separated the project into staged prototype branches instead of treating everything as one build
Built a V2 actuator and power testbench
Explored gear, bearing, and joint packaging concepts
Started DepthAI / OAK-D perception testing separately from the leg hardware
Built a USB fan cooling fix for overheating perception hardware

Problems I ran into

The project has too many subsystems to document cleanly on one page.

Actuator packaging, power distribution, control architecture, perception, and thermal handling each need their own documentation path.

The long-term goal includes autonomy, but the current bottlenecks are still mechanical repeatability, actuator selection, wiring, and subsystem validation.

What worked

  • • Splitting the project into prototypes makes the build easier to explain and evaluate.
  • • The V2 bench gave the project a more realistic path for testing power and actuator behavior.
  • • Perception work can be documented separately from mechanical leg development.

Remaining work

  • • Final single-leg mechanical module
  • • Confirmed actuator choice
  • • Validated torque and range of motion under load
  • • Encoder feedback integration
  • • Clean modular leg-controller architecture
  • • Multi-leg synchronization
  • • Full 8-leg chassis integration
  • • Autonomy and perception integration

Takeaway

What I Learned

The spider robot is not one problem. It is a stack of smaller problems that need to be isolated, tested, documented, and then integrated. The strongest next step is proving one repeatable leg module before scaling into a full frame.

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