How Palmimo Moves
Walking and motion computation is consolidated in palmimo_sdk’s MotionEngine,
which is the single source of truth for gait direction and parameters. Every
front-end — the Python API and the example agent apps under examples/ — is
driven through it.
| Path | Best for | How to call it | Implementation files |
|---|---|---|---|
| MotionEngine + Python API | Driving walking from your own script / composing choreography | from palmimo_sdk import Palmimo |
engine.py, robot.py |
Note: Front-ends built on top of the SDK delegate leg gait to the same
MotionEngine. Do any gait parameter tuning or new-gait implementation work on the engine, not in a front-end.
The Kinematic Chain
Section titled “The Kinematic Chain”Values taken from the URDF (MotionEngine class variables L1 / L2 / L3 in
engine.py).
| Symbol | Value (mm) | Part |
|---|---|---|
L1 |
32.0 | Coxa (mount to pitch1) |
L2 |
45.3 | Femur (pitch1 to pitch2) |
L3 |
100.0 | Tibia (pitch2 to foot tip) |
Why the Gait Is a Tripod
Section titled “Why the Gait Is a Tripod”MotionEngine.TRIPOD_A / TRIPOD_B in
engine.py split the six legs
into two groups.
| Group | Legs |
|---|---|
| Tripod A | Leg 1 (RL) / Leg 3 (FL) / Leg 5 (MR) |
| Tripod B | Leg 2 (ML) / Leg 4 (RR) / Leg 6 (FR) |
A and B always move in anti-phase, so three legs stay on the ground at every instant and the body never has to balance dynamically. For the mapping between leg number and physical position (e.g. RL = rear-left), see motor_layout.drawio.svg.
Reading the comments and code in engine.py gives the full picture; the constants above are the ones worth knowing before you read it.
Related Documents
Section titled “Related Documents”- Available motions and gait parameters — the motion list and the knobs
- Controlling motions — driving the robot from Python
- System architecture — where the engine sits in the stack