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Spider

ajwardajward Posts: 1,130
edited 2011-08-26 16:45 in General Discussion
Went to the local 'Shack yesterday to find an odd battery and found Hexbug Spiders on sale. So, being in one of those "I can't resist" moods, I came home with a red one named "Archie"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/81065424@N00/6079947843/in/photostream

Kinda fascinating, the way it works. I'm more of a tracked vehicle person, but I'd like to build a multi-legged walker of some sort. Archie gives me a starting point.

Amanda

Comments

  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2011-08-25 11:38
    Cool! ...and "Archie" is a good spider name.

    I was looking for a standard RS product that could be combined with a QuickStart and some of the other soon to be stocked Parallax products from which to build an interesting robot project. Sort of a celebration build for the new partnership. I wonder if you could pop the top off and wire in a few pins of teh QuickStart for a quick brain? Certainly well worth some experimenting!
  • ajwardajward Posts: 1,130
    edited 2011-08-25 14:24
    mindrobots wrote: »
    Cool! ...and "Archie" is a good spider name.

    I was looking for a standard RS product that could be combined with a QuickStart and some of the other soon to be stocked Parallax products from which to build an interesting robot project. Sort of a celebration build for the new partnership. I wonder if you could pop the top off and wire in a few pins of teh QuickStart for a quick brain? Certainly well worth some experimenting!

    Surprisingly, this little critter has a lot of screws holding it together. When the novelty wears off, I'll explore removing some of those to see how the beastie works.

    Amanda
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2011-08-25 16:26
    The Spider is cute and works great as-is, but there's not much hacking to do (mechanical or electronic), other than maybe putting a small LiPo in place of the 3 button cells. It's an unlicensed copy of Jamie Manzell's Spider Tank: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6qpSOjtB2E

    All those leg joints are pretty flexy. If you add weight or change the CG, it won't walk nearly as well. So don't make any mods you can't undo, you may regret it!
  • jaegjaeg Posts: 156
    edited 2011-08-25 20:03
    I have one of those, a blue one, I love watching how the mechanism works.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2011-08-26 14:31
    Amanda: What was the Shack's sale price? If it's way below the $25 I paid for mine, I'll get a second one to let my twins battle it out. :)
  • ajwardajward Posts: 1,130
    edited 2011-08-26 14:45
    erco wrote: »
    Amanda: What was the Shack's sale price? If it's way below the $25 I paid for mine, I'll get a second one to let my twins battle it out. :)

    'Twas on a clearance rack for $10.99. Couldn't pass that up.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2011-08-26 16:45
    Not out there in LA! Still $25.
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