@Matt, Andy & Parallax: You guys really should be selling a kit like this. C'mon, put that laser cutter to work. Plywood, acrylic, whatever. Cross-platform. Put it out there and turn us loose.
@Ken: Consider this free market research. Four Parallax robot lovers pounced on this bot in a heartbeat. Cluso99 is making one from popsicle-sticks when he's not cursing me. I know Whit & Duane are kicking themselves for missing out.
That's a fair amount of animation and maneuverability for just 3 servos. Almost makes 16-servo hexapods look silly. Amirite?
Parallax should be selling a kit like this. Talk about an opportunity! You could partner with Henry or roll your own. It's a walking Boebot, perfect for schools. 4H club kids built and programmed these to dance the "Harlem Shake":
Whit & Duane should just contact Henry if they want a kit or parts. Had a delightful email with him the other day.
And yes, if it is Open Source then it ought to be a winner. I am going to make an add-on plugin to my P8XBlade2 once I work out what's needed.
As always, I like to keep things tiny
And yes, if it is Open Source then it ought to be a winner. I am going to make an add-on plugin to my P8XBlade2 once I work out what's needed.
As always, I like to keep things tiny
@Cluso99 - Look forward to seeing this. Spent some time looking at your website today - Cool (and tiny!) products!
At first I thought it was acrylic with a clear peel-off layer on each side, but according to the Instrux, it's ABS. Prolly no peel off sheet then. If that's the case, I'll use either MEK or Weld-on for solvent bonding. CA/Superglue often fogs a glossy sheet of ABS/HIPS, or leaves a white residue shown in the Instrux pic (edit: next post). But if you use CA I'd go with a thick version (not thin, not gel) and use kicker/accelerator. I use Great Planes Thick CA and ZAP Zip Kicker, have not tried Bob Smith.
From my experience, thin CA usually flows too well and too fast on plastics, making drips and going right where I don't want it to go. I do use in on wood, cloth & leather though, since it soaks in nicely. The gel doesn't flow, which can be good or bad depending on how you applied it. The thick stuff flows a bit and also makes nice fillets. To help avoid fogging, keep air moving over the parts for an hour with a fan. You really should be using a ventilation fan with CA anyway, but you knew that already.
Related: These hexapods walk somewhat like the stick insects (walking sticks) I raise. Two of my oldest girls are literally falling apart, they are down to 3 and 4 legs now. One had 5 but lost one last night. It just fell off! It's certainly heartbreaking to watch, they can't climb any more so they live in a little flat cage by themselves. Sometimes I wonder if I should put them down, but they still have healthy appetites, scramble about, and lay 3-4 eggs a day. It's like their last hurrah to "keep going" so I make them comfy and set them right on top of their food leaves. The 3-legged one is actually feistier than the one with 5 (oops, now 4) legs. Healthy stick bugs still don't do that much in a day, so it's quite hard to judge these bugs' quality of life. Suffice it to say it looks like they are fighting to go on, so on we go. The next generation of little stick bugs is in an adjacent cage so the circle of life will go on ad nauseum.
One of their sister bugs (same age) is still wildly healthy in the large habitat and has 5 healthy, amorous males keeping her company.
Back OT, these Cricket robots are awesome but I don't think they would be so mobile or adaptable if they lost a leg or three.
How are you boys coming? I have my kit assembled, and I'm off to world famous Pacific Coast Hobbies to get one more HS-311 servo. My healthy stickbug wants a ride.
How are you boys coming? I have my kit assembled, and I'm off to world famous Pacific Coast Hobbies to get one more HS-311 servo. My healthy stickbug wants a ride.
Three HiTec Hs-311s, which is what Henry spec'ed. I had 2 laying around, so I needed to get one more from PCH. Cheap ($10) entry level analog servos. There's a chassis cutout for a 9-gram servo to scan the ultrasonic sensor, I'll probably use a Hobby King HXT900 for that.
For builders, note there are a few revision errors in the user/assembly manual which comes on the CD. The legs are shown in 2 different shapes, and at some point he switched from wire linkages to plastic links.
My HS did not have HS-311 in stock, (for $9.99), but they wanted to sell me no name for $12.99. I could not find the name on the internet. Guess I'll have to order them.
Amazon Prime, $9.99, I'LL have them and a pot of glue ready and waiting when I get home from work on Monday...i'm sure I can find *some* other project to work on until then!!
This was a good week, my robot collection grew by 4 hexapods. More like 3-1/2, I haven't finished my first Cricket yet, but #2 arrived in tip top shape today. That's a ~1985 MoU Spydor and a Combat Creature in back.
Comments
And yes, if it is Open Source then it ought to be a winner. I am going to make an add-on plugin to my P8XBlade2 once I work out what's needed.
As always, I like to keep things tiny
I stand corrected.
I lament my comments regarding your regard for and the promotion of laminated products.
@Cluso99 - Look forward to seeing this. Spent some time looking at your website today - Cool (and tiny!) products!
From my experience, thin CA usually flows too well and too fast on plastics, making drips and going right where I don't want it to go. I do use in on wood, cloth & leather though, since it soaks in nicely. The gel doesn't flow, which can be good or bad depending on how you applied it. The thick stuff flows a bit and also makes nice fillets. To help avoid fogging, keep air moving over the parts for an hour with a fan. You really should be using a ventilation fan with CA anyway, but you knew that already.
One of their sister bugs (same age) is still wildly healthy in the large habitat and has 5 healthy, amorous males keeping her company.
Back OT, these Cricket robots are awesome but I don't think they would be so mobile or adaptable if they lost a leg or three.
And then there were two. (Crickets in erco's collection)
For builders, note there are a few revision errors in the user/assembly manual which comes on the CD. The legs are shown in 2 different shapes, and at some point he switched from wire linkages to plastic links.
Back to the tank!!
No room for them, mind you.
The erco way - http://roboticsunderthestole.blogspot.com/2016/06/doing-lot-with-little.html
What this me and this country needs is a good 2-motor hexapod.
Who's got one?
NO motors: