Robokitty

RoboKitty - Quadruped IK Walking Controller

12-DOF (3 per leg) inverse kinematics with walk/trot/pace gaits. AX-12A Dynamixel servos via half-duplex UART.

Leg layout (top view, front facing up): FL (8/10/0) FR (11/9/7) RL (5/3/6) RR (2/1/4)

Target: Raspberry Pi 4.

🛠 Setup & Installation

We recommend using a virtual environment to keep your global Python installation clean.

1. Create a Virtual Environment

python -m venv .venv

Activate it:

# On macOS/Linux:
source .venv/bin/activate
# On Windows (PowerShell):
.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

2. Install Dependencies

Once your environment is active, install robokitty and its development tools:

For standard usage:

pip install .

For contributors:

pip install -e ".[dev]"

3. Initialize Pre-commit

We use pre-commit to maintain code quality. These hooks run automatically every time you try to git commit.

Install the git hooks:

pre-commit install

(Optional) Run against all files manually to check existing code:

pre-commit run --all-files

🚀 Usage

Confirm everything is working by calling the helper directly from your terminal:

robokitty --help

Gait control

robokitty gait          # default crawl
robokitty gait crawl
robokitty gait walk

Servo tools

robokitty servo diagnose <id>   # full register diagnostic
robokitty servo repair <id>     # attempt software recovery
robokitty servo set-id          # safely change a servo's ID
robokitty servo jog <id> <angle>  # jog servo to angle and back

Global options

robokitty --port /dev/ttyUSB0 --baud 1000000 gait crawl

🚀 How to Run the Simulation

To ensure Webots correctly inherits the root repository context and reads the webots.yml file, use one of the following methods to launch the project:

Method 1: Command Line (Recommended) Navigate to the root of your cloned repository and launch the world file directly. This forces Webots to use the repository root as its active project directory:

cd sim
webots worlds/robokitty.wbt

Method 2: Opening via Webots GUI

1. Open the Webots application.
2. Select File > Open World... from the top menu.
3. Navigate into the worlds/ directory of this repo and select robokitty.wbt.

⚠️ Note: Do not use File > Open Project Directory. Webots automatically detects the project root when you open the .wbt file from this structure.