The above are images of Robot III. It is a hexapod with kinematics based on studies of the cockroach Blaberus discoidalis performed in the Ritzmann Lab in the Biology Department at CWRU. It has a total of 24 degrees of freedom with five for each front leg, four for the middle legs and three for the rear legs. The robot is pneumatically actuated using off the shelf cylinders and blocks of three-way pneumatic valves. Pulse width modulation of the valves is implemented for variable position control of the cylinders. The structure of the robot is machined from high grade aluminum alloys.

Robot III was a finalist for Discover Magazine’s 9th Annual Technology Awards. There was an article on the robot in the Special Epcot Edition that was published in July 1999.