$15 Theo Jansen StrandBeest Kit

erco

Of course I ordered one. No electronics, just wind powered. Who else will answer the call?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wind-Powered-DIY-Walking-Walker-Mini-Strandbeest-Assembly-Model-Kits-Robot-Toy/310662757917

Edit: Then there's a battery-op one for half the price.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Electronic-Spider-Robot-Toy-Puzzle-DIY-Educational-Toys-Kits-Gadget-Kids-Gift-/400541415231

W9GFO

I was going to make my own but I am stuck on how to design the crankshafts in such a way that they are easily manufactured and assembled.

erco

Rich: A Strand-Boest add-on would be the pinnacle of awesomeness. Please continue your fine work!

Gadgetman

It's not an 'official' Strandbeest as it's not made by or endorsed by Theo Jansen. It's not even made of PVC tubing or empty pop bottles, but...

It's JUST TOO COOL not to have...

W9GFO

erco wrote: »

Edit: Then there's a battery-op one for half the price.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Electronic-Spider-Robot-Toy-Puzzle-DIY-Educational-Toys-Kits-Gadget-Kids-Gift-/400541415231

That one does not use the Jansen linkage, it is a Klann linkage. Here is a comparison;

http://www.mechanicalspider.com/comparison.html

...and it is patented. I wonder if the toy is licensed?

erco

W9GFO wrote: »

I wonder if the toy is licensed?

The usual Chinese licensing agreement, most likely.

Rich, I am so taken with your BoeBot concept that I will shamelessly hack my $7.50 Ebay "spider" onto a Boebot at first opportunity. Which is probably still a ways off, but fun to think about.

Now finish Kepler before I rip that off too. JK!

erco

BTW, that B/O spider (battery operated) is pretty underpowered using the stock AA battery, but it's plenty zippy if you use an AA-sized 14500 Li-Ion instead. When in doubt, go Turbo!

erco

W9GFO wrote: »

I wonder if the toy is licensed?

Just received my "Theo" walker kit and either it's actually licensed or a bold knockoff of a licensed one. Came from HK, but it says "made in Japan" by Gakken, and has Theo Jansen photos, endorsements, an autograph and website info all over the box. Comes in a classy "book" style of package, with an intro page up front and instructions in several pages in the back. The binding is clearly marked "Volume 30". Can't wait to find time to assemble. I got several kits in today's mail, including another battery-op spider (Klann linkage) mentioned earlier.

Edit: Couldn't wait, I assembled the kit tonight in a little over an hour while watching "Pocahontas" (again!) with the twins. Nice kit, assembles easily, lots of redundancy assembling 12 identical leg mechanisms. Might be a cool candidate for a differential drive robot, although like tank treads not inherently as accurate as wheels. The legs move in a nice efficient straight line, but since you never know which of the 3 leg pairs per side is touching the ground, so turning accuracy will vary. Very cool kit, erco-approved!

erco

Modding the Spider robot to make it autonomous and microcontrolled. Driven my an HXT900 servo, modified for CR. One side only shown here. You can see where this is going. Cool little bots, I ordered a few more since they're on sale for $7.74 now: http://www.ebay.com/itm/200955719259

erco

First two-man, pedal powered, diff drive Theo Jansen walker I've seen! The feet look like Michael Jackson Moonwalking.

LoopyByteloose

W9GFO wrote: »

I was going to make my own but I am stuck on how to design the crankshafts in such a way that they are easily manufactured and assembled.

As odd and counter-intuitive as it may seem, Theo makes his out of large diameter plastic tubing and plastic elbows. I guess it doesn't really scale down to table-top models.

erco

Loopy Byteloose wrote: »

As odd and counter-intuitive as it may seem, Theo makes his out of large diameter plastic tubing and plastic elbows. I guess it doesn't really scale down to table-top models.

Did you watch the video in post #1 embedded in the Ebay ad? That's about as good as it gets IMO. See also

erco

SON OF A ...

Surfing around at http://www.dfrobot.com/index.php and guess what pops up first? They beat me to Spiderbot!

BUSTERS!

erco

Double disappointment on my birthday. I should check, I may have not been the first to invent the wheel either.

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

No batteries needed:



-Phil

Publison

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »

No batteries needed:



-Phil

Now that's the cat's meow!

Publison

erco wrote: »

Double disappointment on my birthday. I should check, I may have not been the first to invent the wheel either.

No worries. I think you are still the first to invent the light bulb.

erco

Well I'll be the first to use a single kit. Both of those other efforts used two spider chasses, and probably the stock gearmotors. And they stuck a lot of weight on it, more than those spindly, sloppy legs can handle. An Arduino and 3 AA cells Puh-leeez.

My minimalist bot have a micro PCB, one 14500 cell, and a few sensors. But sadly, no wood.

Started a new thread in Robotics: http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/151632-Spike-the-Spider-Robot

Gadgetman

No wood?

Who are you and what have you done to the real Erco?

Maybe the RFDuino would be a good fit?
http://www.rfduino.com/

There's a servo Shield for it, which supports up to 4 servos. And a single-AAA-shield for power...
There's even a Coin-cell shield (CR2032 ) for power.

erco

From cool walkers to clunky: it's like the designer of this one wasn't even trying: http://dx.com/p/j-33444-diy-six-legged-robot-blue-2-x-aa-233331?Utm_rid=67723936&utm_source=shopping&utm_medium=pcs&utm_campaign=paidshopping&Utm_rid=95527470

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

erco wrote:

... it's like the designer of this one wasn't even trying ...

Maybe all he has is a table saw and a drill press.

-Phil

Gadgetman

Got my kit today, and yeah, its made by Gakken and seems to bee an official product.

Found a link on the boxx that I just had to check out...

These people are big on educational and fun kits...

This is one of the weirder:
http://otonanokagaku.net/english/magazine/vol28/index.html
A clock based on Edo era timekeeping...
Trust me, that timekeeping is weird.

There's a '4bit computer' and a 'Japnino' SBC which is an Arduino in disguise.
I must see if I can get hold of more of those kits...

BTW: The Strandbeest assembled easy enough, but the double-sided tape that holds the wings of the propeller is rather past its sell-by date.
This thing is definitely coming with me to the office tomorrow.
(Not just because I have 'a few' cool items, including a Matryoshka doll I picked up in Russia, but because the office is kind of crawling with engineers and technically minded people)

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Gadgetman wrote:

This is one of the weirder: ...

'Reminds me of a clock I once built for a friend's birthday. It used one of those cheap, ubiquitous, AA-battery-powered movements. I removed the 1 pps oscillator and used its 32 kHz crystal to drive a small PIC micro, which fed the 1 pps solenoid with its own pulses. The PIC could be programmed to stretch and compress time, still totalling 86_400 sec/day, but allowing longer breaks and lunch hours with shorter work periods -- or vice-versa, depending upon one's motives.

-Phil

Gadgetman

Now that is a clock I could appreciate...

erco

Strandbeest meets Toddler! WANT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JnTThZMJAg Jump to 2:15

Pity it's $57 on Ebay from Japan, no Chinese knockoffs yet!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Theo-Jansen-method-Biped-Walking-Robot-Kit-by-Gakken-Otonano-Kagaku-Mook-/301014949645?pt=Educational_Toys_US&hash=item4615e39f0d

erco

$11.19 shipped. No box. I got another one to modify. Cheap entertainment!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wind-Powered-DIY-Walking-Walker-Robot-Toy-Mini-Beach-Creature-Assembly-Model-Kit-/330992928896?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d10b74880

erco

Double good news about the second unit I ordered. Item was only $11.19, "no retail box, just bubble pack". Just got it today.

1) Very fast ship, 15 days total. Paid Dec 15, received Dec 30, in the middle of the holiday rush.
2) Item came in full retail box, just as I showed in post #8.

Again, erco-approved and highly recommended! http://www.ebay.com/itm/330992928896

erco

This one's for Duane Degn, builder of robotics walkers using popsicle sticks.

Here's a nice Strandbeest simulation done in Blender, and it sure looks like the guy modeled wooden popsicle sticks or tongue depressors for the horizontal body links.

erco

I nabbed a legit (?) Theo Biped kit from Japan for $45 (Best Offer accepted). A pricey bit of plastic kit, but for once I'll be the first guy in the pool.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/301082712683

erco

Received the $45 biped and I'm savoring/delaying the build. Yummy.

Meanwhile, the price of the Strandbeest dropped to $10.59, so I had to order another one... Kinda like ultrasonic sensors, you can never have too many. Hope to have one autonomous and driven by CR servos for the next LA Robotics club meeting on Feb 22.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330992928896

Gadgetman

Something like these servos, maybe?

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR11.TRC1.A0.X1.5g+servo&_nkw=1.5g+servo&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Or maybe this 1.1gram 'actuator'
http://www.microflight.com/Online-Catalog/Actuators-and-Servos/MiniAct-Magnetic-Actuator-1-1g

Combine it with this receiver and you should be good to go:
http://www.microflight.com/Online-Catalog/Receivers/Micro9-4-Channel-PlugnPlay-0-95g-Receiver