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$13 Walking Spider Kit — Parallax Forums

$13 Walking Spider Kit

ercoerco Posts: 20,255
edited 2012-10-05 20:27 in Robotics
Walks sideways from what I'd like, but I had to order one for my collection at that price. One motor, walks straight, no turns. Might take some serious hacking to make it turn. :)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/High-teach-Products-Series-Educational-Model-Kit-Spider-Robot-/251146428437?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a797e6015

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=uV1XLjSkpug#t=25s

Comments

  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-09-16 19:48
    Wow, that's no spider; it's a crab! But, much more importantly, it looks like it might be a miniature adaptation of a Theo Jansen's mechanism:

    Nice find! Very cool! AAAAAAA++++ would recommend again.

    -Phil
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,255
    edited 2012-09-17 00:04
    High praise indeed from my hero PhiPi !

    An educational toy, to be sure. The seller's item descrition is titled: High-teach Products Series Educational Model Kit Spider Robot
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2012-09-17 05:46
    Neat. I've been trying for a while now to build something like that out of Lego Technic. But it's hard than it looks. But here's an example that someone built:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqVkR3tj43E&feature=related
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,255
    edited 2012-10-04 11:11
    Mine arrived yesterday, erco approved! Great little kit. No screws, just very nice friction-fit assembly, they nailed the pin & hole diameters so that assembling the kit is a real joy. Just over an hour to assemble with a sleeping toddler on my lap. Slightly faster without. :)

    I know there are kit lovers among us who would get $13 worth of joy just from assembling this kit.

    There's a central motor & long output shaft running sideays to two identical 4-legged modules, left & right. With some hacking, two motors could be added for differential steering. Heck, this could be be an IR beacon-seekin' spider crab in no time! I'll do it unless Duane beats me to it.
  • varnonvarnon Posts: 184
    edited 2012-10-04 16:09
    I'm going to get some legos and build something like that. I'll build for-real legs once the leg joint lengths are worked out.

    I'm really surprised there aren't more jensen or klan leg linkage robot kits. They just look like so much fun.
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2012-10-04 17:04
    That is a Klann linkage. Look here for a comparison of the Jansen and Klann linkages;

    http://www.mechanicalspider.com/comparison.html
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,255
    edited 2012-10-05 12:24
    Nice linkage link, Rich. Neat to see the paths traced by the two different mechanisms.

    Walking efficiency depends partially on how straight & level the foot travels when in contact with the ground. I always liked the Peaucellier straight line mechanism, but it doesn't lift up for the return stroke. And that's already a lot of pivots for each leg!

    http://www.brockeng.com/mechanism/Peaucellier.htm
  • varnonvarnon Posts: 184
    edited 2012-10-05 15:11
    I posted that on the other thread but nobody even looked! I'm so sad! (not really)
    Its a great site though I really can't decide which of those to linkages I like better.
    Lets keep the leg link thoughts going! I promise I'll get in on the action ASAP.

    There are some neat hexbugs designs too. Unfortunately they stoped carrying these in local stores as soon as I started thinking they were cool.
    Both of these use klann linkage. The inchworm is weird, but technically a klann I think.
    http://www.hexbug.com/inchworm
    http://www.hexbug.com/crab

    I can't figure out what to call the spider
    http://www.hexbug.com/spider
    It is a really interesting mechanism. I'd love to have one of those. (But not enough to order one just yet.)
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2012-10-05 18:19
    varnon wrote: »
    I can't figure out what to call the spider
    http://www.hexbug.com/spider
    It is a really interesting mechanism. I'd love to have one of those. (But not enough to order one just yet.)

    Is that a rip-off of Jamie's design?

    https://www.combatcreatures.com
  • varnonvarnon Posts: 184
    edited 2012-10-05 20:27
    Looks like you are right! I remember seeing one of his earlier videos, but it has been a while and I kind of forgot about them. The "shifting weight" while the head is turning but the body is not moving is a dead give away.

    He seems kind of sad.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDpLwgFuMeU

    But I'm glad he is getting a toy company behind him that seems to share is vision.


    Its really lame they stole his idea. We have the same kind of paranoia about showing stuff to people in academia. We don't make direct money from publications, but we still rely on them so we are always afraid of someone "stealing" intelectual ideas.
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