# Quadruped Robot Controller

**URL:** <https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/quadruped-robot-controller/15625>\
**Category:** Projects\
**Created:** [July 27, 2020, 6:21pm UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/quadruped-robot-controller/15625 "2020-07-27T18:21:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![grassjelly](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.openrobotics.org/grassjelly/32/7228_2.png) [@grassjelly](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/u/grassjelly)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 6:21pm UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/quadruped-robot-controller/15625/1 "2020-07-27T18:21:42Z")

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![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/ros/original/2X/6/688c6601a9f01db9546d85179f1d204990d9f1bc.gif)

Hi Guys,

Just sharing my most recent project CHAMP, an open source development framework for building new quadrupedal robots. I’m currently working on the hardware documentation but the software stack is already up.

There’s a setup assistant that allows users to configure newly built robots by using URDF or manually feeding the translation between joints.

![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/ros/original/2X/4/457609ddae4215f37be857f8b490adab2b5ade08.gif)

If you’re interested to check out the features, there are demos available without the need of a physical robot: [GitHub - chvmp/champ: MIT Cheetah I Implementation](https://github.com/chvmp/champ)

Here’s the robot walking:

[![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/ros/original/2X/9/9deced527cc4eb34de061547a9df8d90a7509400.jpeg "CHAMP Quadruped Robot") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpyNuNGCHhw)

Autonomous Walk:

[![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/ros/original/2X/c/c426a012d0334ff845579a26af5de942fcf0a419.jpeg "Autonomous Quadruped Robot") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAnYtx5K8pE)

Feel free to comment, or ping me if you have any questions.

Thank you!

_(Disclaimer: CHAMP does not own any of the robots in the first photo nor is it related to the individuals/companies/institutions that developed the robots. These are purely based on publicly released URDF files that have been configured to work with the CHAMP controller.)_

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**Author:** ![1116](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.openrobotics.org/1116/32/6246_2.png) [@1116](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/u/1116)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 1:46am UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/quadruped-robot-controller/15625/2 "2020-08-03T01:46:21Z")

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Cool project. I would like to share this project via our Facebook channel, if you don’t mind.

> **[ROBOTIS | Seoul](https://www.facebook.com/robotis.company/)**
>
> ROBOTIS, Seoul. 9,752 likes · 4 talking about this · 160 were here. ROBOTIS is leading provider of smart robot actuator DYNAMIXEL and educational kits. (www.robotis.com) 
> Korea: +82-70-8671-2609 /...

Please visit our Facebook channel, and tell me !

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**Author:** ![grassjelly](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.openrobotics.org/grassjelly/32/7228_2.png) [@grassjelly](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/u/grassjelly)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 2:32am UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/quadruped-robot-controller/15625/3 "2020-08-03T02:32:50Z")

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Thank you! Sure, please share.

The first prototypes were in Dynamixels:

[![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/ros/original/2X/6/622d4c384d05b06f9a43441b443786b37b50ea0d.jpeg "Quadruped Robot Holonomic Movement") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GDC3BEQMwA)

[![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/ros/original/2X/8/81452f376130b3dd8d69d7e22aef2b0a4a881d2e.jpeg "Champ Quadruped Robot") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKcLNfUA8rc)

[![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/ros/original/2X/f/f5a652a2a590a1eaa2bc6d26bd7b5f3f3b881d01.jpeg "Champ Quadruped Robot") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55Qa2MN_Yc0)

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**Author:** ![kennydedavion](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.openrobotics.org/kennydedavion/32/10421_2.png) [@kennydedavion](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/u/kennydedavion)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 4:42pm UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/quadruped-robot-controller/15625/4 "2021-06-07T16:42:42Z")

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Hello, I really like your project. I’m building something similar. I’m currently trying to switch to Ros, but thanks to using Arduino I have a lot of problems. Do you only use rpi? Thank you for answer, Jacob

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**Author:** ![jwkelly49](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.openrobotics.org/jwkelly49/32/15956_2.png) [@jwkelly49](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/u/jwkelly49)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 8:21pm UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/quadruped-robot-controller/15625/5 "2023-03-14T20:21:34Z")

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I am a 74 year old retiree building a spot-micro dog as my hobby.  
I’m using Ubuntu 20.4 with ROS 2.  
I am using Linux for the very first time so I’m weak in the basics. I have successfully installed ROS 2 and done most of the tutorials.

It’s your code that gives me the courage to try building my robot and I thank you for being willing to share all of your effort.

Perhaps you can point me to an active user group that I can post to for future questions.

I think that some of your code references ROS 1 (not sure - catkin?)

I tried using “Colcon build” and got a long list of messages that I don’t know how to interpret, would you please advise me as to what corrective action to pursue.

Also have I placed all of the project directories at the right root?

Thank you,  
Jim Kelly  
Houston Texas

* * *

jim@ROS:~/ros2\_ws$ colcon build  
Starting \>\>\> champ  
Starting \>\>\> champ\_msgs  
Starting \>\>\> champ\_description  
Starting \>\>\> spot\_msgs  
Starting \>\>\> a1\_description  
Starting \>\>\> aliengo\_description  
Starting \>\>\> anymal\_b\_simple\_description  
Starting \>\>\> anymal\_c\_simple\_description  
— stderr: champ\_msgs  
CMake Deprecation Warning at CMakeLists.txt:1 (cmake\_minimum\_required):  
Compatibility with CMake \< 2.8.12 will be removed from a future version of  
CMake.

Update the VERSION argument value or use a … suffix to tell  
CMake that the project does not need compatibility with older versions.

CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:4 (find\_package):  
By not providing “Findcatkin.cmake” in CMAKE\_MODULE\_PATH this project has  
asked CMake to find a package configuration file provided by “catkin”, but  
CMake did not find one.

Could not find a package configuration file provided by “catkin” with any  
of the following names:

```
catkinConfig.cmake
catkin-config.cmake

```

Add the installation prefix of “catkin” to CMAKE\_PREFIX\_PATH or set  
“catkin\_DIR” to a directory containing one of the above files. If “catkin”  
provides a separate development package or SDK, be sure it has been  
installed.

* * *

Failed \<\<\< champ\_msgs [0.62s, exited with code 1]  
Aborted \<\<\< spot\_msgs [0.61s]  
Aborted \<\<\< aliengo\_description [0.61s]  
Aborted \<\<\< champ [0.63s]  
Aborted \<\<\< anymal\_c\_simple\_description [0.60s]  
Aborted \<\<\< anymal\_b\_simple\_description [0.60s]  
Aborted \<\<\< champ\_description [0.62s]  
Aborted \<\<\< a1\_description [0.61s]

Summary: 0 packages finished [0.94s]  
1 package failed: champ\_msgs  
7 packages aborted: a1\_description aliengo\_description anymal\_b\_simple\_description anymal\_c\_simple\_description champ champ\_description spot\_msgs  
8 packages had stderr output: a1\_description aliengo\_description anymal\_b\_simple\_description anymal\_c\_simple\_description champ champ\_description champ\_msgs spot\_msgs  
41 packages not processed  
jim@ROS:~/ros2\_ws$

* * *

Home/ros2\_ws/src  
camp  
champ\_setup\_assistant  
champ\_teleop  
robots\_master

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Red24dog](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.openrobotics.org/red24dog/32/4448_2.png) [@Red24dog](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/u/Red24dog)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/quadruped-robot-controller/15625/6 "2023-03-14T20:52:55Z")

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Nice going in getting started.

I’d suggest the Homebrew Robotics Club, that has a Web site, [groups.google.com](http://groups.google.com) Forum and Weekly online and live Meetings , Wed 7-9 pm PDT. Join the mailing list for an informative and fun experience. There’s also a Houston based robotics group that meetings online & in person, but don’t know the url.

[

[About – HomeBrew Robotics Club](https://www.hbrobotics.org/index.php/about/)  
[hbrobotics.org](https://www.hbrobotics.org/index.php/about/)

[![cropped-hbrc-logo-1824x1800-1-e1615055187400-180x180.jpg](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/ros/original/3X/1/0/109b835e4ae5c4fe95f3aa4abfb00f6f33b10afc.jpeg)](https://www.hbrobotics.org/index.php/about/)

]([About – HomeBrew Robotics Club](https://www.hbrobotics.org/index.php/about/))

Ross

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jwkelly49](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.openrobotics.org/jwkelly49/32/15956_2.png) [@jwkelly49](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/u/jwkelly49)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 4:55pm UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/quadruped-robot-controller/15625/7 "2023-03-15T16:55:48Z")

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Thanks, I’m signing up for Homebrew but all the clubs I’ve found for Houston are inactive (2021 post dates) so if you discover that url I’m interested,

Jim

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Red24dog](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.openrobotics.org/red24dog/32/4448_2.png) [@Red24dog](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/u/Red24dog)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 11:48am UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/quadruped-robot-controller/15625/8 "2023-03-16T11:48:17Z")

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4201 Main St · Houston, TX

> **[Houston Robotics Group In-Person Meeting at the Ion, Sat, Mar 4, 2023, 2:00 PM ...](https://www.meetup.com/houstonroboticsgroup/events/291959858/)**
>
> Meeting starts at 2:00 pm Central Time at the Ion Prototyping Lab
> Ion Houston
> 4201 Main Street
> Houston, Texas 77002
> \\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-

Ross Lunan, [arlunan@ieee.org](mailto:arlunan@ieee.org)

Ross Lunan, [arlunan@ieee.org](mailto:arlunan@ieee.org)